Amid differences, Congress chooses V Narayanasamy as next Puducherry CM

Puducherry, May 28: Former Union minister of state V Narayanasamy has been unanimously elected as the Congress Legislature Party leader to become the next chief minister of the Union Territory of Puducherry.

The Congress-DMK alliance won the recently held election in the UT though it failed to dislodge the AIADMK government of J Jayalalithaa in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

The announcement was made by former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik who were deputed as observers by the party high command after discussions with the newly elected MLAs. The Congress won 15 seats in the 30-member Assembly in the May 16 election. The DMK won two seats, giving the alliance the required majority of 16.

Dikshit said the decision to pick Narayanasamy, a former Union minister of state, was backed by all the MLAs, Pradesh Congress Committee chief A Namassivayam and former chief minister V Vaithlingam.

Party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi congratulated Narayanasamy over the phone.

Namassivayam's supporters protest

The Congress was facing differences in its ranks over the choice of the chief minister. As soon as the news about Narayanasamy's election broke, supporters of Namassivayam protested against the decision. They alleged that though Narayanasamy said he was not in race for the CM's post, he worked behind the scenes to ensure that he won the chair unopposed.

Oneindia News