Other States - Pondicherry   

Pondy Congress MLAs threaten to resign

By Our Staff Reporter

PONDICHERRY, MAY 18. Congress members in the Pondicherry Legislative Assembly today threatened to resign from their posts if the AICC president Sonia Gandhi does not accept the

post of Prime Minister.

Addressing presspersons here, former chief minister and Congress leader, V. Vaithialingam, said "the MLAs feel that when Mrs Gandhi herself does not want to come to power, why should we remain in power". Expressing shock over the developments in New Delhi, he said the Congress Ministers, MLAs, officer bearers and cadres would request Mrs Gandhi to accept the Prime Ministership.

Former minister Gandhiraj said a signed memorandum had been faxed to Mrs Gandhi. Slamming the BJP for threatening to boycott her swearing in ceremony, he said people had elected Mrs Gandhi as the leader of the largest party and the BJP decision to boycott the ceremony showed how undemocratic that party was.

Neela Gangadharan, MLA, sought to know from the BJP that when they could accept Mrs Gandhi as the Opposition Leader in the Lok Sabha why couldn't they accept her as the Prime Minister? He also said all Congress MLAs were ready to resign from their posts if she did not become the Prime Minister.

In a separate statement, former Home Minister P. Kannan urged Mrs. Gandhi to take up the post. People had given a clear mandate to the Congress and its allies and hence she should not budge to any anti-national forces.

He called upon the party workers and leaders to pressure her to reconsider her decision or else it would go against the wishes of the people. He also strongly condemned the National Democratic Alliance for its sinister attempt to nullify the people's mandate

Meanwhile, around 100 Congress workers sat on a dharna near the Raja Theatre signal demanding that Mrs. Gandhi become the Prime Minister. They shouted slogans against the BJP. The traffic at the junction went haywire with hardly any police force present to handle the situation. The Grand Bazaar police arrested the cadres, including two MLAs Rajavelu and MOHF Shahjahan.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

• Pondy Congress MLAs threaten to resign
• New WLL exchange for Pondy by November

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu