PUDUCHERRY: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Puducherry on April 24 to attend several programmes.Sources in the BJP told IANS that the visit is primarily intended to iron out the differences between Chief Minister N. Rangasamy and the BJP legislators.
Ever since the coalition government of All India NR Congress (AINRC) and BJP assumed office in the Union Territory, there have been differences between the two parties. While the chief minister is sore that the BJP took a unilateral decision regarding the three nominated MLAs, the saffron party said at that point, Rangasamy was convalescing from Covid-19 at a private hospital in Chennai.
Rangasamy not visiting New Delhi to meet the Prime Minister, Home Minister, or Finance Minister has also raised suspicion on the relationship between the two parties.
BJP National general secretary (Organisation) B.L. Santosh recently attended a meeting of the BJP legislators and got first-hand information on the ground realities in Puducherry.
The BJP national secretary in charge of the Union Territory Nirmal Kumar Surana had in a meeting with BJP local leaders announced that the party would contest alone in the ensuing Civic body polls. Interestingly, his announcement came after Santosh's visit to the Union Territory.
Chief Minister Rangasamy, who is also the Finance minister of the state, has not presented his budget in the Assembly as the territorial government was not clear on the Central assistance. The Chief Minister has recently presented the vote on account instead of a full budget on March 30, 2022, for the next five months.
Meanwhile, the opposition DMK has come out against the Union government, and the leader of opposition and party floor leader in the Assembly R. Siva while speaking to IANS said: "The union ministers are regularly reaching Puducherry but no benefits are provided to the territory. We demand that the BJP national leadership meet all the promises it had made during the run-up to the 2021 Assembly elections."
Notably, the DMK had issued an open invitation to Rangasamy to sever relations with the BJP and forge an alliance with the opposition parties.
Amit Shah, during his brief visit to the territory, according to senior BJP leaders, will meet the Chief Minister and other leaders and take initiative to iron out differences between the AINRC and the BJP.