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Mukut Mithi’s parting message loud and clear

Photo: T. Singaravelou

Bidding adieu: Mukut Mithi leaving the Raj Nivas in Puducherry after relinquishing the office of Lieutenant Governor on Wednesday. —

PUDUCHERRY: Lieutenant Governor Mukut Mithi’s resignation on Wednesday has come as a bolt from the blue, though rumours had been in the air for the last couple of days that he might quit the gubernatorial post and re-enter active politics.

When Mr. Mithi left the Raj Nivas, abruptly ending his nearly 20-month-long tenure to file nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections from Arunachal Pradesh, neither Chief Minister N.Rangasamy nor any of his Cabinet colleagues was present at the farewell function, as almost all of them were camping in New Delhi.

But his parting message to the Chief Minister and Ministers had no trace of ambiguity. He had only echoed the feelings of the cross section of the people when he appealed to them to bury their differences in the interest of the people and work for the development of the Union Territory, observers said.

The full import of the Lt. Governor’s call for steps to ensure a “progressive, transparent and people-friendly administration” could be understood only if it was seen against the backdrop of the political scenario prevailing in the Union Territory, they opined.

The “disharmony” in the Ministry became so acute that the Cabinet, which met on March 10, was unable to arrive at a consensus to fix the date for convening the budget session of the Assembly.

The standoff between the Chief Minister and the Ministers had been continuing for the past several months, with controversies revolving around issues such as construction of the government medical college, earmarking funds for the special component plan, distribution of handloom clothes for people living below-the-poverty-line and the demand for resignation of Health Minister E. Valsaraj in the case relating to the purchase of land for a cooperative B.Ed. college in Mahe.

Just as an impression had been sought to be created that the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues could not see eye to eye on these contentious issues, the infighting in the Congress also added fuel to the smouldering fire, a Congress functionary pointed out.

Observers were also of the view that these differences had a telling effect on the administration, as many schemes as promised in the budget and the election manifesto of the Congress could not take off.

Mr. Mithi’s assessment of the prevailing scenario was akin to that of the major political parties, including those who were alliance partners of the Congress — the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Pattali Makkal Katchi and the Communist Party of India.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) had also flayed “deliberate attempts to create an administrative and political crisis in the Union Territory and undermine the prestige of the people.” It had decided to hold street-corner meetings on March 19 on the issue. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had asked the Lt. Governor to summon the budget session, as he had adequate powers to do so under the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963.

“Will the Chief Minister and the Ministers, on their return from New Delhi, sink their differences and help the Union Territory wriggle out of the present imbroglio?”—This question is looming large in the minds of the people of Puducherry.

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