More than four days after the Congress-DMK combine stormed to power in the Union Territory, the Congress is yet to elect the Congress Legislature Party leader since consensus on the candidate for the top post continues to be elusive.
Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister for State V. Narayanasamy, Pradesh Congress Committee president A. Namassivayam and former Chief Minister V. Vaithilingam are the strong contenders for the post.
A two-member delegation from the Congress is expected to arrive here in the next two days to tackle the situation and participate in the crucial meeting of the Congress Legislature Party.
Sources said Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik would arrive here to participate in the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party to elect the leader who will get anointed as the Chief Minister.
The party observers will ascertain the views of the MLAs on their choice for Chief Minister. A consensus candidate for the Congress Legislature Party leader would be decided at the meeting with MLAs paving the way for the formation of the next government.
Will talk to Karunanidhi
The delegates are also expected to hold talks with the DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi at Chennai en route to Puducherry since the DMK is an alliance partner of the Congress.
Of the 21 seats Congress contested in the 2016 Assembly elections the party won 15 seats while the DMK emerged victorious from two of the nine seats it contested.
The Congress will form the next government with the support of the DMK although the size of the Ministry could not be known immediately.
Meanwhile, some of the MLAs including Malladi Krishna Rao, M. Candasamy and others are camping in Delhi lobbying to get berths in the cabinet.
In case the Congress forms the Ministry with the DMK it will be the second time that such a coalition would come up in Puducherry after a gap of 36 years.
The last Congress-DMK Ministry was headed by M.D.R. Ramachandran from 1980 to 1983 although the Ministry did not last its full five-year term.
The DMK formed governments in subsequent years in alliance with the then Janata Party (JP) in 1990 and with the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) from 1996 to 2000.
Former top cop Kiran Bedi who has been appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor of the UT would assume office on Sunday. The new Ministry is expected to be installed by Monday, according to sources.
A two-member delegation from the Congress is expected to arrive here in the next two days to tackle the situation
