Puducherry: Congress Government Slips In Minority, Kiran Bedi Removed As Governor

On a day the Congress-led government in Puducherry lost its majority following the resignation of an MLA, the Central government relieved lieutenant governor Kiran Bedi of administrative responsibilities. The order, which comes as the ruling Congress navigates a crisis of numbers, has been widely seen as a political move by the BJP to negate their rivals' primary campaign platform & further weaken them ahead of elections in May. It also comes hours after a fourth Congress leader resigned from the Assembly, leaving Narayanasamy's government on the brink of collapse. Narayanasamy, however, has dismissed such talk & stressed, "Our government is not in the minority”. Of the 30 elected MLAs in the assembly, Congress had 15 members & along with the DMK's three & one independent member, was just past the majority mark of 16. After the resignations, the government and the opposition both are at 14.