Amid a deepening standoff between the elected government and the Lieutenant Governor in Puducherry, Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Wednesday sought to play down the crisis after meeting BJP leader Nirmal Kumar Surana, the party's in-charge for the Union Territory.
For the third straight day, the chief minister and ministers from his party, the All India NR Congress, continued to stay away from work, protesting Lt Governor K Kailashnathan's alleged unilateral administrative decisions, including reshuffling of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) IAS officers without consultation and the rejection of key government proposals.
After the meeting, Mr Rangasamy insisted he was under no pressure from the BJP and that such tussles between the chief minister and the Lt Governor would persist until Puducherry is granted full statehood.
"Till Puducherry gets statehood, this issue will crop up," Mr Rangasamy said. "This has been there under every rule and every Governor."
BJP's Surana, who flew in to defuse tensions, told NDTV that he invited Mr Rangasamy to visit Delhi for further discussions and resolve issues amicably.
"As the chief minister said, there would be little issues but we would discuss and sort them. Our focus now is the 2026 election," Mr Surana said.
The chief minister also stressed that he shared a cordial relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and denied the current impasse was due to any internal political pressure.
Lt Governor Kailashnathan appeared to shrug off suggestions that the chief minister was boycotting office due to friction with him.
"It doesn't appear so to me," he said.
The political deadlock sparked renewed calls for statehood, with the NR Congress demanding a special session of the assembly. The party was founded on the promise of securing full statehood for Puducherry, which remains a Union Territory governed under a dual administrative system.
Though previous regimes, including during the Congress-UPA era, have also seen tensions between the Lt Governor and the elected government, the current episode underscores the need for clarity and balance in the roles of constitutional authorities in Puducherry's governance.
In the past, the Supreme Court underscored that the Lt Governor can't act independently but only on the aid and advice of the council of ministers.
The power must lie with the elected government and the Lt Governor can't be an "obstructionist", the Supreme Court has said.
