Congress loses another wicket in Puducherry, Raj Bhavan constituency MLA resigns; Alliance down to 13 seats ahead of floor-test

The Puducherry Raj Bhavan Constituency Congress MLA Lakshmi Narayanan has resigned from his position ahead of the Narayanaswamy government’s trust vote on Monday. The number of the alliance has now come down to 13.

Last week, five MLAs had tendered their resignation. With one more MLA adding to the growing number of resignations, the Puducherry government is headed towards a big crisis.

Day after Puducherry Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararjan ordered a floor test for the Congress government in the union territory to prove the majority in view of a spate of resignations by the ruling party MLAs, CM Narayanasamy claimed it was the opposition which does not have adequate numbers.

Five seats in the assembly fell vacant after four Congress MLAs resigned and one member was disqualified, taking the effective strength of the House to 28.

The present party position in the assembly: Congress (10, including the Speaker), DMK has three, All-India NR Congress has seven, AIADMK has four, and the BJP has three (all nominated) and one independent.