Congress has no right to talk about Puducherry’s Statehood issue: BJP leader

The Congress has no moral authority to talk about Statehood after ignoring the demand while being in power at Centre and Puducherry for decades, senior BJP leader and Home Minister A. Namassivayam said on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference at BJP’s media centre, Mr. Namassivayam, who is contesting from Mannadipet for the second time, said there were several occasions in the past when Congress party ruled Puducherry and Centre at the same time. The demand for Statehood was very much existent at those times also, he added.

“They were in power in the U.T. and Delhi for most of the time after the country attained Independence. The Congress party could have given Statehood during the period when the party was in power at Puducherry and Centre at the same time,” he said.

When asked about Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s criticism against BJP on Statehood and corruption issue, he said “the Congress party has no moral authority to talk about Statehood and corruption. Mr. Kharge was trying to degrade political discourse by making wild allegations.”

The AINRC-BJP government, he said, worked in the “most transparent” manner during the last five years. “Our government conducted recruitment to fill around 3,000 vacancies in various departments. There was not a single complaint on the recruitment process. Anyone can make allegations. The allegations must be substantiated with evidence and facts. People of U.T. know who has indulged in corruption,” the BJP leader said. 

The Congress party in Puducherry has even failed to arrive at a seat-sharing agreement with its alliance partners. The INDIA bloc constituents are fighting against each other in around ten constituencies, he said. “INDIA bloc is a failed concept. People of Puducherry will not vote for parties that cannot even come together to fight an Assembly election,” he said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address a public meeting at Thirukkanur on Monday evening as part of BJP’s campaign for the April 9 polls. 

BJP Tamil Nadu unit vice-president Khushbu Sundar on Sunday held a roadshow for party candidate E. Theeppainthan in the reserved Ossudu constituency. Later, addressing a press conference at the media centre, she said the National Democratic Alliance would return to power under the leadership of AINRC founder N. Rangasamy in Puducherry.