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The Indian National Congress in Puducherry, which could not prove its majority in the Assembly on Monday, 22 February, is hoping to bank on the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sentiment to tide over the upcoming elections in the Union Territory.
“In the last polls held in 2016, the BJP could not win a single seat in Puducherry even though the party had fielded candidates in 18 seats. This shows that the people here do not want a BJP government,” a senior Congress leader told The Quint, on the condition of anonymity.
Puducherry, which has traditionally opposed Hindu nationalism, will sink the NR Congress-AIADMK alliance which is in “cahoots with the BJP,” the senior Congress leader added.
Will this strategy help the Grand Old Party, which has a history of winning the Puducherry elections since the early 1990s?
While political analysts tell The Quint that the strategy may have its shortfalls, senior Congress leadership is positive about winning the next round.
During the past week, a political crisis had been brewing in Puducherry with five Congress MLAs resigning from the party. The party’s coalition partner Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), too, lost an MLA on Sunday, 21 February.
On Monday, V Narayanasamy-led Congress government faced a no-confidence motion in the House and failed to prove its majority. Even as he presented a long list of his government’s achievements, the Congress emphatically blamed “the Centre’s hand in toppling the government.”
Retired IPS officer Bedi had nominated three BJP MLAs to the House. She was abruptly sacked on 16 February.
Blaming Bedi, who has now been replaced by Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, will not help the Congress during the polls, experts said.
Some others maintained that removing Bedi from the L-G’s post was the BJP’s masterstroke.
“Now, the Congress does not have a BJP agent to project as an enemy during its campaign,” a political analyst added.
Setting the mood for the upcoming polls, the Congress on Monday strongly opposed the “unholy alliance” between the BJP and the regional parties.
“That (anti-BJP sentiment) is one aspect of Puducherry which will not change. As politics here is heavily influenced by neighbouring Tamil Nadu’s politics, the Congress can bank on a strong anti-BJP sentiment. The question is whether this alone will help the party,” the political analyst added.
While some of the resigned Congress MLAs may join the BJP, they will not get re-elected, another Congress stalwart told The Quint.
Meanwhile, with new members added to its rungs, the Opposition is neither stable nor does it have strong leadership, the Congress leader added.
“The Opposition now has two leaders – N Rangasamy of the NR Congress and A Namassivayam, who was with the Congress till he resigned from the party last week. Both of them would want to become Chief Minister and the BJP alliance will fall apart,” the leader said.
“And neither of them are popular beyond their constituencies,” he added.
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