V Narayanasamy, a former Union Minister of State in the Manmohan Singh-led UPA Government, who turned the dark horse and walked away with the post of Chief Minister of Puducherry, called on DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Sunday to obtain the letter of support from the latter to form the next Government in the Union Territory.
The Indian National Congress which has 15 members in the 30-member Puducherry legislature, needs the support of two members of the DMK to form a new Government with absolute majority. Though Narayanasamy said he called on Karunanidhi to seek his blessings to form the Government, the purpose of his visit was to get the letter of support from the DMK patriarch to form the next Government. “The Congress-DMK alliance will take up all steps to make Puducherry prosperous,” Narayanasamy told the waiting reporters while coming out of the Gopalapuram residence of Karunanidhi.
Though Narayanasamy had not contested the May 16 assembly election held to elect a new assembly, he surprised all by emerging as the “unanimous leader” of the Congress legislature party. A Namassivayam, the Pradesh Congress Committee Chief was the front runner for the top job in the union territory. But by silent operation and manoeuvring, Narayanasamy managed to outwit Namassivayam and walk away with the post of the leader of the Congress legislature party.
But Narayanasamy may have to do a tightrope walking, according to political observers of Puducherry. “ The All India N R Congress led by former chief minister N Rangasamy has eight members in the House. If the four-member AIADMK and the disgruntled Congress MlAs come together, Narayanasamy would find the going tough. There are Congress MlAs who are ardent followers of Namassivayam,” said an observer in Puducherry.