Virtually setting the stage for a confrontation with the Centre, Speaker V. Vaithilingam has refused to accept the three BJP members sworn-in by Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi as nominated legislators in the Legislative Assembly.
In a clear indication of the Congress hardening its stand against the unilateral nomination of BJP members to the House, Mr. Vaithilingam on Monday returned the file to Ms. Bedi stating that he could not accept the members as he had not received any communication from the competent authorities on the three names.
The Lt. Governor, on the night of July 4, had completed the formality of swearing in the local president of BJP V. Saminathan, party treasurer K.G. Shankar and educationist and party sympathiser S. Selva Ganapathy hours after the three members met the Speaker requesting him to administer the oath at the earliest.
Ms. Bedi had sent a file urging the Speaker to provide all facilities to the nominated members in the House, including rooms, identity card and seating arrangement in the Assembly.
No communication
A highly placed source in the Assembly told The Hindu that the Speaker returned the file by stating that facilities could not be provided as he had not received any communication from the competent authority about the appointment of three nominated members.
The Speaker, while returning the file, the source said, had taken into account the fact that there was no signed communication from the President on the nominated members as was the convention.
Moreover, there are cases pending against two members and the other member was not a registered voter in the Union Territory, the source said. The proper address of a member was missing in the order issued by the Centre appointing the legislators, he added.
With the Speaker taking a stern stand against being bypassed for the swearing-in duties, the issue was expected to worsen the confrontation between the Legislative Assembly and Ms. Bedi — a clash that had earlier seen Mr. Vaithilingam launching contempt of the House proceedings against the Lt. Governor’s secretary G. Theva Neethi Dhas and former Pondicherry Municipality Commissioner R. Chandirasekaran.
Congress confident
The latest issue over the unilateral decision on nominated MLAs could directly pit the Congress against the Centre for the first time as the return of the file by the Speaker indicated the UT regime’s position that it would not meekly accept the BJP nominees.
On Saturday, various political parties, including the ruling Congress and the DMK, had organised a bandh on the issue. Bolstered by the support of political parties, barring the principal Opposition All India N.R. Congress, on the nominated MLA issue, the Congress had resolved to raise the issue in the next Parliament session.
