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Election of Pondy Assembly Speaker to be held tomorrow
The election to the post of the Speaker of Puducherry Assembly is scheduled to be held here on June 3.
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Puducherry
A release from the Secretary to the Assembly, A Vincent Rayar, on Saturday said Lt Governor Kiran Bedi has convened a meeting of the Assembly at 9.30 am on June 3 and has scheduled the election of Speaker the same day.
It also said necessary intimation has been sent to all the MLAs, including the three nominated legislators, individually for the filing of nominations.
The post of Speaker has been lying vacant after V Vaithilingam (Congress) resigned on March 21 to contest the April 18 Lok Sabha poll here. Vaithilingam won the parliamentary election, but has not quit the post of MLA so far, official sources said.
Presently, Deputy Speaker V P Sivakolundhu is the officiating Speaker.
Meanwhile, AIADMK legislature party leader A Anbazhagan termed the holding of election for the Assembly Speaker’s post on Monday as a “murder of democracy”.
A decision whether to contest the election, boycott the same or to face it legally would be taken in consultation with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Paneerselvam, Anbazhagan said.
Talking to newspersons here, Anbazhagan said Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy today announced that the election for the Speaker’s post will be held on Monday, which is a “murder of democracy”.
The legislators should be intimated about the election of the Speaker 14 days prior to the election and due time should also be allowed for those who wish to contest the election to file their nominations.
However, not even 48 hours was given by Narayanasamy, and the Chief Minister who condemns the Lt.Governor for inviting officials for meeting on holidays announced the election date on the day of a holiday. He wondered whether DMK President M K Stalin would accept this.
Anbazhagan pointed out that the Mahe and Yanam regions of the Union Territory are 600 and 800 kilometers away from Puducherry. If an independent member from Mahe wished to contest the election, will it be possible for him/her to file his nomination before 1200 hours on Sunday, he asked. The fear that the ruling party may get defeated led to this ‘murder of democracy’, with powers wrested with them, he added.
Though Deputy Speaker Sivakozhunthu, the Chief Minister’s Parliamentary secretary, Lakshminarayanan, and Congress legislator M N R Balan are vying for the post of the Speaker, the chances for Sivakozhunthu is bright. He is likely to be elected ‘unopposed’ Monday next.
The possibility of the Opposition jumping into the election arena is remote as it has only 14 members in the 33-member territorial assembly, including the three BJP nominated members, while the ruling side has 19 members (including Mr. V Vaithilingam, who is yet to resign from his MLA post).
Vaithilingam, who resigned from the Speaker’s post and contested the Lok Sabha election needs to resign from his MLA post within 14 days of the announcement of the election results. As such, he has time till June 8, and in case of any emergency, he could also vote in favour of the ruling side.
The Congress has 15 members, the DMK 3, the N R Congress 7, the AIADMK 4, the BJP 3, and one Independent in the 33-member territorial Assembly.
Oppn urges Lt Guv to suspend poll
Reacting to the announcement of the election to the post of the Assembly Speaker on June 3,opposition parties in the Union Territory on Saturday demanded that the election-which was scheduled in a hurry-be cancelled and submitted a memorandum in this regard at the Raj Nivas.
Immediately after the announcement of the election to be held on Monday, opposition parties maintained that the holding of the election without giving ample time for the members to file their nomination is against law, and hence, the election on Monday should be cancelled and a fresh date after giving adequate time be announced. This was endorsed in a meeting chaired by N R Congress president and leader of the opposition N Rangasamy on Saturday evening.
Later, AIADMK whip Vayyapuri Manikandan, the three BJP nominated legislators-Saminathan, Selvaganapathy and Shankar-N R Congress legislator Jayapal and party general secretary Bhalan went to the Raj Nivas and submitted a memorandum to the Lt Governor’s secretary as Kiran Bedi was away in New Delhi.
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