Puducherry Floor Test: After Narayanasamy Loses Majority, BJP Won't Form Govt But Will Fight Upcoming Elections

Puducherry CM Narayanasamy walks out of the assembly after losing majority votes hands in resignation. After Narayanasamy's resignation, BJP is not looking forward to forming the government now but they will fight the upcoming elections.

Representational Image - CM V.Narayanasamy

Puducherry: Amid an ongoing political crisis, Puducherry CM Narayanasamy lost the majority as the no-confidence motion moved by him was defeated. Before the trust vote Congress-DMK alliance's strength dropped to 11 against the opposition's 14 in the 33-member assembly. After failing the floor test, Narayanasamy walked out from the assembly along with other Congress leaders.

On Sunday, two more MLAs of the Congress- DMK alliance in Puducherry resigned giving a jolt to Chief Minister V Narayanasamy. Congress MLA K Lakshminarayanan and DMK legislator Venkatesan resigned a day before CM Narayanasamy is scheduled to face a floor test in the assembly to prove his majority. The news comes after MLA A John Kumar, who was considered close to Chief Minister V Narayanasamy also resigned last week.  After John's resignation, a constitutional crisis has arisen in Puducherry as the Congress coalition government in the state was in a minority. The number was brought further down to 11 after Congress MLA K Lakshminarayanan and DMK legislator Venkatesan quit. 

What is a floor test?

A floor test is taken to see whether the government has the confidence of the legislature, as per the Constitution, the Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor of the state. In the floor test, a Chief Minister appointed by the Governor is asked to prove the majority in the Legislative Assembly. The Chief Minister usually belongs to the single largest party or the coalition which has the 'magic number'. The 'magic number' is achieved with the halfway mark plus one and it refers to the total number of seats required to form a government or remain in power. If in case they are caught in a tie, the Speaker casts the deciding vote. Even after this, if the government's majority is questioned they have to move to 'vote of confidence which is when the vote counted based on those present and voting. If the Chief Minister loses, they have to resign. 

The floor test was ordered on Thursday after following a demand-led by the Opposition which was led by All India NR Congress founder N Rangasamy who is the former Chief Minister of Puducherry. The floor test was ordered by Tamilisai Soundararajan the Telangana Governor who was sworn after in Dr. Kiran Bedi was on Tuesday removed as the Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory (UT). The opposition demanded Chief Minister V Narayanasamy's resignation citing that the government is in a minority. However, Narayanasamy rejected the opposition's demand, claiming that his government had a 'majority' in the House. 

Chief Minister V Narayanasamy Resigns

Now, after losing the majority in the assembly, Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy submitted his resignation to the Lieutenant Governor. During the meeting, CM Narayanasamy commented on the MLAs who resigned recently and said 'MLAs should stay loyal to the party. MLAs who have resigned will not be able to face the people as people will call them opportunists'. Speaking to the press, Narayanasamy said 'the Speaker's ruling is incorrect. BJP govt at the Centre, NR Congress & AIADMK have succeeded in dislodging our govt by using voting power used by 3 nominated members. This is a murder of democracy. The people of Puducherry and this country will teach them a lesson' according to ANI.

According to sources, after the resignation of Narayanasamy, the Bhartiya Janata Party is not looking to form the government now but they will contest the upcoming assembly elections.