Rangasamy sworn in as Puducherry CM

 

 

All India N R Congress (AINRC) leader N Rangasamy was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Puducherry at a brief ceremony held at the Raj Nivas here on Friday and will lead a coalition Government of BJP members in his Cabinet.

While Karnataka is the lone southern State with the BJP in the ruling saddle, its induction in the UT Cabinet allows the BJP expand its footprint, vis-a-vis power in the region.

 

Incidentally, it fared well in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, where it won four Assembly seats in the Dravidian heartland in the April 6 polls. Union Minister of State for Home and BJP leader Kishan Reddy, who attended the swearing-in ceremony on Friday, told reporters that BJP and AINRC would have three Ministers each and they would be sworn in over the next few days.

 

BJP’s A Namassivayam, who was elected unanimously as the leader of the BJP legislature wing,is tipped to be Deputy Chief Minister.

On Friday afternoon, Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Rangasamy, giving him his fourth stint in office of CM.

Rangasamy, the only legislator to be sworn-in today, took the oath in Tamil and in the name of God.

The swearing in of the other Ministers belonging to the AINRC and BJP would be held in the next few days, AINRC party sources said.

Of the three BJP members in the cabinet, one would be deputy CM.

A BJP source told PTI that Namassivayam would be Rangasamy’s deputy, in the first such instance of the UT having a deputy CM.

Six Ministers are likely to be sworn-in in the next couple of days and this would ultimately bring the strength of the Puducherry Ministry to seven, including Rangasamy.

AINRC won 10 seats and the BJP six in the 30-member house, giving them the simple majority to form Government.

THERE are six Independents elected to the House, who are by and large supporters of Rangasamy.

The DMK emerged victorious from six segments of the 13 seats it contested.

The Congress fared poorly by annexing only two out of the 14 seats it contested.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated N Rangasamy for taking oath as Puducherry Chief Minister and extended his best wishes to the AINRC leader.

Modi tweeted, “I would like to congratulate Shri N.Rangasamy Ji on taking oath as Puducherry CM. Best wishes for the tenure ahead.”