Rangasamy sworn in as Puducherry CM, BJP to be part of cabinet

PTI, May 7, 2021, 5:45 PM IST

Puducherry: AINRC leader N Rangasamy was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Puducherry at a brief ceremony held at the Raj Nivas here on Friday and will lead a coalition government of BJP members in his cabinet.

While Karnataka is the lone southern State with the BJP in the ruling saddle, its induction in the UT cabinet allows the saffron party to expand its footprint, vis-a-vis power in the region.

Incidentally, it fared well in neighboring Tamil Nadu, where it won four assembly seats in the Dravidian heartland in the April 6 polls.

Union Minister of State for Home and BJP leader Kishan Reddy, who attended the swearing-in ceremony today, told reporters that BJP and AINRC would have three ministers each and they would be sworn in over the next few days.

BJP’s A Namassivayam, who was elected unanimously as the leader of the BJP legislature wing, is tipped to be deputy chief minister.

On Friday afternoon, Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Rangasamy, giving him his fourth stint in the office of CM.

Rangasamy, the only legislator to be sworn in today, took the oath in Tamil and in the name of God.

The swearing-in of the other ministers belonging to the AINRC and BJP would be held in the next few days, AINRC party sources said.

Of the three BJP members in the cabinet, one would be deputy CM.

A BJP source said that Namassivayam would be Rangasamy’s deputy, in the first such instance of the UT having a deputy CM.

Six ministers are likely to be sworn in in the next couple of days and this would ultimately bring the strength of the Puducherry government to seven, including Rangasamy.

The AINRC won 10 seats and the BJP six in the 30-member house, giving them the simple majority to form a government.

There are six independents elected to the House, who are by and large supporters of Rangasamy.

The DMK emerged victorious from six segments of the 13 seats it contested.

The Congress fared poorly by annexing only two out of the 14 seats it contested.

Earlier, Chief Secretary Ashwin Kumar read out the Presidential notification appointing Rangasamy as the Chief Minister.

The ceremony, which began at 1:20 PM, lasted five minutes.