Congress veteran V. Narayanasamy has been portraying his government in Puducherry as a martyr of the BJP's machinations ever since it lost a vote of confidence last month.
Narayanasamy has repeatedly accused the BJP of orchestrating defections from the Congress and seeking to undermine his government's work.
On Friday, a prominent TV channel carried an interview of Narayanasamy in which he said if the BJP came to power with its allies in Puducherry, it would "merge" the Union territory with Tamil Nadu. Narayanasamy further alleged the BJP would intervene in the affairs of the government by concentrating power in the hands of the lieutenant-governor as was being done in Delhi and make any government a "lame-duck" dispensation.
Soon after his government fell on February 22, Narayanasamy had alleged that the NDA alliance in Puducherry, comprising BJP, All-India NR Congress and AIADMK, would have no qualms in merging the Union territory with Tamil Nadu.
“If by any chance the alliance comprising BJP and its allies comes to power, the separate identity of Puducherry as a Union territory would be dismantled and its merger with neighbouring Tamil Nadu would happen,” he said.
In an interview to The Hindu published on Friday, Narayanasamy said, "few [BJP] leaders from Delhi and Bengaluru landed in Puducherry and toppled the government. They succeeded by murdering democracy and using nominated legislators appointed by the Centre”.
Interestingly, Narayanasamy was conciliatory towards current Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan.
"Some of the decisions taken by Ms. Soundararajan proved that our fight with Ms. [former L-G Kiran] Bedi was genuine and right. The Lt. Governor recently cleared the financial assistance for SC students, the pending salaries of government-aided school teachers and the midday meal scheme. I will appreciate Ms. Soundararajan if she clears all the other pending welfare schemes," Narayanasamy told The Hindu.
Narayanasamy acknowledged Congress workers were unhappy with the decision to surrender more seats to the DMK, but stressed the Congress had "no alternative". Narayanasamy told The Hindu Congress workers "are not willing to canvas votes for the DMK, but we will convince them because the victory of the alliance is a necessity for the Union territory".
Narayanasamy claimed his decision to not contest the coming polls was a "personal decision" made in consultation with the "high command" of the Congress.
Narayanasamy told The Hindu, "My service will be required in all the constituencies and I will be doing the campaign along with Lok Sabha member V. Vaithilingam as a team."
