Pondicherry Cm Quits, New Govt Likely Today

PONDICHERRY CHIEF Minister R.V. Janakiraman submitted his resignation to Lt Governor Ranjani Roy today after accepting that his Government had been reduced to a minority following the TMC's pull out.

The Congress, however, was plunged into confusion in choosing a successor to Mr. Janakiraman. Mr. Rengaswamy, a bachelor Congress MLA, was favoured by the TMC since it was unwilling to accept former Chief Minister V. Vaithialingam who has been chargesheeted by the CBI for bribing a TMC MLA to switch sides three years ago.

When it appeared that Mr. Rengaswamy would be the unanimous choice, local strongman and PCC president P. Shanmugam threw his hat in the ring even though he is not an MLA. This sent the TMC into a tizzy since Mr. Shanmugam is a known antagonist of TMC leader G.K. Moopanar. With the local leaders unable to decide on the matter, the issue will be decided by Delhi on Sunday.

 

Party general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad will be carrying the names of all the three probables