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AIADMK urges Mithi to summon budget session

Puducherry: The Puducherry unit of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Tuesday urged Lieutenant Governor Mukut Mithi to summon the budget session of the Assembly without waiting for the Cabinet’s proposal.

Secretary of the AIADMK unit A.Anbalagan told reporters here that as per Section 6 (1) of the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 the Lt.Governor had powers to summon the Assembly to “meet at such time and place as he thinks fit.”

The Lt. Governor had to act on his own immediately as the Cabinet, which met on Monday, was unable to evolve a consensus on the schedule for the budget session for 2008-2009, he said. Time was too short to wait for the Cabinet’s decision in this regard, he said.

He also urged Mr. Mithi to submit a whitepaper on the state of affairs in the Union Territory, with particular reference to the alleged “infighting” in the Cabinet and the “non-cooperation” on the part of the bureaucrats.

The AIADMK had already flayed the Congress government in Puducherry for “not performing its duties as per the Constitution and for not respecting the rule of law,” Mr.Anbalagan said. Through a memorandum to the President, the party had also pleaded for the dismissal of the government by invoking Article 356 of the Constitution, as the administration had become “inert,” he recalled.

He accused the Ministers of acting in an “irresponsible manner without respecting the people’s mandate.” The Cabinet, which met thrice, had failed to propose a date for summoning the budget session of the Assembly though it was mandatory for the government to obtain the sanction of the House before March 31 for spending on the plan expenditure, day-to-day administration and disbursement of salaries to its employees for the next financial year, he said.

It was a “mockery of democracy” that the Ministers and the Chief Minister had failed to understand that the Cabinet was bound by the Constitutional provisions and the Assembly Rules, Mr.Anbalagan said.

He charged certain officials of the administration with failing to cooperate with the government. “The beleaguered Chief Minister should relinquish office on moral grounds and the Union Territory government should recommend fresh elections to the Assembly,” he said.

The AIADMK, with the consent of the party general secretary, would submit a memorandum to the Lt. Governor highlighting these demands, besides rallying the people against the government, he added.

Mr.Anbalagan also asked the alliance partners of the Congress, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Pattali Makkal Katchi and the Communist Party of India, to make their stand clear on the issue.

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