Puducherry, April 25 (BPNS)
The Puducherry unit of the BJP is buoyed up by the visit of Union Home Minister, Amit Shah who has party’s national president and has scripted several successes to the saffron party in the electoral hustings. The Puducherry unit of the BJP had declared earlier that it would go alone in the Local body polls to be announced soon. The Union Home Minister was in Puducherry on Sunday, April 24 and had attended a slew of programmes including a meeting of the BJP office bearers.
It may be noted that all is not well between the All India NR Congress (AINRC) led by Chief Minister, N. Rangasami and the Puducherry BJP in the NDA alliance that is ruling the Union territory. The BJP Puducherry unit has already announced that it would be fighting the enusing local body elections on its own.
The Chief Minister, N. Rangasami after assuming office on May 21 has not paid a visit to New Delhi to meet the Prime Minister and the state BJP is sore that the Chief Minister has his own agenda in running the show.
N. Rangasami had complained to the central leadership of the BJP over it keeping him in the dark regarding the announcement of three nominated MLCs to the Puducherry assembly taking the toll of the BJP to 9 in the thirty three-member assembly. The BJP had taken the decision while Rangasami was convalescing in a hospital in Chennai due to Covid -19 days after his swearing-in ceremony.
Sources in the BJP told IANS that the Union home minister had given the go-ahead to the party’s local leadership to fight on their own in the ensuing local body elections and to have the presence of the party across the territory. Amit Shah, according to BJP leaders privy to the meeting of party office bearers held at Puducherry told BPNS,” Amit Shahji was optimistic of BJP doing well in the ensuing local body polls and he has asked us to go according to the decision taken by the local leadership. He has also conveyed that the party national leadership would provide all the help necessary to script success in the elections.”
BJP state leaders and the party national leader in charge of Puducherry, Nirmal Kumar Surana met the Union Home Minister, and a presentation regarding the local body elections was given to him. Sources in the party said that while continuing alliance with the AINRC of N. Rangasami was important at this juncture, the saffron party wants to wriggle out of the alliance in long term and to project it as a natural claimant for the Chief Minister post in the Union territory.
Amit Shah, who is the number two in the NDA government at the centre after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has, according to local BJP leaders assured them of the Union government announcing several central schemes to the territory thereby increasing the money flow to the state. BJP local leaders were told by the Union Home minister to properly convey the positive developments that are taking place in the country to the people of the territory.
The BJP leaders of Puducherry have also been directed to directly reach out to the people and to communicate to them regarding central schemes and projects thereby garnering the sympathy and goodwill of the people that can be transferred as votes in the near future.
The Union home minister, it is learned has, also communicated to the Puducherry leaders of the party as to how the party had won in the recent elections and to chalk out a proper plan and implement it to win the local body polls in Puducherry.
