Puducherry NDA on the rocks, Chief Minister Rangasamy boycotts crucial alliance meeting with BJP

Within days of finalising the seat-sharing pact with its coalition partner BJP, Chief Minister and All India NR Congress (AINRC) president N Rangasamy is sulking and has boycotted a crucial alliance meeting convened by the saffron party on Tuesday, leaving the NDA on the rocks ahead of the April 9 election to the 30-member Union Territory Assembly.

Though the deal was sealed with 16 seats for the AINRC and 14 for the BJP, there was no agreement on a few seats, with both parties staking claim to them. Further, the AINRC is opposed to the BJP’s attempt to bring into the NDA fold the Lakshya Jananayaga Katchi (LJK) of Jose Martin, son of lottery baron Santiago Martin. This has forced a rethinking by Rangasamy, who has reportedly opened a channel of communication with the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) of actor Vijay for an alliance.

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The unexpected turn of the AINRC exploring an alliance with the TVK has rattled the BJP. This comes close on the heels of Rangasamy unilaterally announcing the candidate for the Yanam constituency, a former French enclave near Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. He had named former Minister Malladi Krishna Rao as the party’s nominee even before the identification of seats for both parties.

Having waited for more than 2 hours for Rangasamy to attend the meeting to iron out differences, Union Minister Mansukh Madaviya had left for New Delhi along with a few local BJP leaders to apprise the situation to BJP strategist and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the architect of the AINRC-BJP alliance.

Now, Rangasamy has reportedly laid down two conditions for the AINRC to remain in the NDA. The first is that the Union government promise statehood for Puducherry and refrain from admitting the fledgling LJK party of Jose Martin into the NDA. He had placed the demand for statehood before Prime Minister Narendra Modi when the latter addressed a joint rally of the NDA recently. If the AINRC deserts the NDA, the BJP would have to team up with the AIADMK and the LJK to face the election.