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Grant special category status to Pondy: Narayanasamy

By Our Staff Reporter

Pondicherry Sept. 23. The Pondicherry Pradesh Congress Committee president, V. Narayanasamy, elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha, told presspersons today that the Centre should grant special category status to Pondicherry. The need for such a step became more pronounced now as there was ``a risk of the Lieutenant Governor, a representative of the President, running a parallel government.''

A democratically-elected government should have full-fledged powers and the Lieutenant Governor should act as per the Constitution on the advice of the Council of Ministers. To achieve this objective, the Union Territory should be sanctioned the special category status.

On the recent visits of the Lieutenant Governor to inspect the amenities for people, the PCC chief said no Lt. Governor in the past had done so.

DMK criticised

Charging the DMK with adopting ``doublespeak,'' he said the party extended support to all decisions of the National Democratic Alliance Government, but criticised its policies through conferences such as the one held at Villupuram recently. The DMK should come out of the NDA, he said.

Referring to the ``dual stand'' of the DMK on the Prevention of Terrorism Act and on the disinvestment policy of the Centre, he said the Congress opposed the POTA ``tooth and nail''.

Mr. Narayanasamy said the Pondicherry police should keep a vigil on the activities of anti-social elements. The murder of the Pondicherry State Youth Congress vice-president, K. Murali, on September17 was an instance of how the ``anti-social elements from the neighbouring State'' were active in Pondicherry.

Meanwhile, the Local Administration Minister, M. Chandirakasu, called on Mr. Narayanasamy and greeted him on his election to the Rajya Sabha.

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