JOIN USBJP is a non-starter in Puducherry, cannot win seats: V Narayanasamy
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will not make any impact in Puducherry in the ensuing Assembly elections as it is a “non-starter” in the Union Territory, said V Narayanasamy, who resigned as Chief Minister on Monday. In an interview with DH's E T B Sivapriyan after the assembly session, Narayanasamy spoke in detail on why the BJP toppled his dispensation. Excerpts:
Your government has fallen today due to lack of majority. What do you have to say about this development?
I am a happy man, today. Our government assumed office in 2016 with the support of 18 MLAs. The NR Congress and BJP began targeting me after I won the Nellithope Assembly by-election in November 2016. Since then, I have been thwarting all their plans to destabilise the government I led. While these parties were targeting me, the then Lt Governor Kiran Bedi interfered in the day-to-day affairs and was trying to run a parallel government by holding review meetings of departments. She is an incorrigible element and nobody can correct her. I fought her every single day, and ultimately we succeeded when she was thrown out of Puducherry last week.
The new L-G Tamilisai Soundararajan, who also belongs to the BJP breed, began acting in a biased manner. Whatever be the situation, I am a fully satisfied man. We have almost completed our tenure and hardly 10 to 15 days are left before the Model Code of Conduct comes into effect. The BJP has toppled our government at the fag end of our tenure. We will not repent but will fight against the BJP.
What does the BJP gain from toppling your government with just two months left for the tenure to end?
The BJP did not want the Congress government to be in power during elections. They did not even want a Congress caretaker government. The BJP always wanted to rule Puducherry by proxy and have plans to merge the Union Territory with Tamil Nadu. They tried to topple my government for the past four years but they failed. However, the people of Puducherry will teach a lesson to (the BJP).
Five MLAs of your party and one legislator from your ally, DMK, has resigned in the past few weeks. Does this mean that your MLAs did not have confidence in their own government?
Let me tell you why they left Congress. They were lured by the BJP through false promises. The BJP has been using investigating agencies to lure people in Puducherry much like other states where they toppled governments. Why did these people leave the party after enjoying power for five years? Why did they not complain four years back? Why did not they raise issues two years back or even last year? They knew the term of the government is going to end and joined BJP since it is lucrative for them.
Why did they find BJP lucrative?
I know the game plan of the BJP. But these MLAs who went do not. Except for those from the RSS, none can occupy positions in the BJP. They will lure people from other parties, use them and dump them. This is what happened in Madhya Pradesh. They took Jyotiraditya Scindia into the party. He was the No. 2 in Congress in the state, but today he is nowhere to be seen.
The DMK and Congress now say that they will go to the people. What will you tell them?
Our election agenda will be disclosed at the time of the campaign. We cannot disclose it to the media.
Will the BJP be able to make an impact in Puducherry this election?
In 2016, 18 BJP candidates forfeited their deposits. Even the BJP state unit president got just 1,400 votes, but he was nominated to the Assembly. Another MLA who has been nominated got just 165 votes. This is the pathetic condition of the BJP in Puducherry. BJP is a non-starter in Puducherry. The people of Puducherry want a secular front.