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DMK to seek Sonia’s intervention

PUDUCHERRY: In a day of hectic political activity on Friday, the DMK announced that its legislators would seek the intervention of Congress president Sonia Gandhi to “re-rail the administration” in the Union Territory and the Speaker decided to call a meeting of all-party MLAs, barring Ministers, to discuss issues relating to certain assurances given on the floor of the Assembly even as Chief Minister and a couple of Ministers were camping in Delhi.

Sources close to the Chief Minister said that the Congress leadership had given five days’ time to sort out the issues between Chief Minister N. Rangasamy and other Ministers , to ensure the smooth functioning of the government.

Leader of the Opposition and DMK functionary A.M.H. Nazeem told The Hindu that his party would honour its commitment to support the Congress government irrespective of who was at the helm of affairs. Mr. Nazeem said that the administration in the Union Territory had come to a “standstill because of the conflict between the Chief Minister and the Ministers and between Ministers and bureaucrats.”

He appealed to the Congress high command to immediately intervene and “reactivate” the Ministry which had become “defunct.”

If the Congress leadership did not intervene, the DMK MLAs, with the consent of party president M. Karunanidhi, would meet Ms. Gandhi and plead with her to set things right, he said.

Several schemes announced by the government on the floor of the Assembly had not seen the light of the day, he said. He also flayed the government on the law and order front.

Mr. Nazeem said the legislators belonging to Karaikal were thoroughly disappointed at the “failure” of the Chief Minister to call a meeting of top bureaucrats to spell out the administration’s stand on allocation of funds and implementation of various projects for the region. As the next step, MLAs of Karaikal region would seek the intervention of the Lieutenant Governor in this regard, he said.

Referring to a letter reportedly written by Secretary (Personnel and Administrative Reforms) D.C. Sahoo to the Home Ministry seeking appointment of five more IAS officers to Puducherry, he said the government should make it clear if the move had the backing of the Chief Minister and the Lt. Governor. The government, instead, should promote senior Pondicherry Civil Service officers as special secretaries, he said.

Legislators belonging to different parties also wanted to express their views on the administration at the meeting convened by the Speaker on June 24 to take stock of the assurances given on the Assembly Secretariat.

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