Former Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy has held the Puducherry Election Commissioner and the AINRC-led NDA equally responsible for creating uncertainty over the conduct of the local body polls.
In a video statement released to the media on Wednesday night, the senior Congress leader charged that the State Election Commissioner, Roy P. Thomas, took a “unilateral,” decision to hold the local body polls in the Union Territory “without having proper consultation.” Several political parties had raised concerns about holding the polls immediately without rectifying the mistakes in ward allocation, including reserved constituencies, he said.
“The Congress president too gave written complaint on the way certain wards were allocated. But Mr. Thomas did not heed to the advice of the political parties,” the former Chief Minister said.
The appointment of Mr. Thomas, he said, was itself done in an “illegal” manner by the former Lt Governor Kiran Bedi. “We (previous Congress government) had challenged his appointment itself. The elected government was overlooked in the appointment process and we questioned the appointment of an Indian Forest Service officer as SEC,” he said.
Blaming Chief Minister N. Rangasamy for not making the right intervention in rectifying the anomalies in the poll process, Mr. Narayanasamy said though the government cannot interfere in the functioning of SEC, the administration could intervene if officials erred in their decisions.
He also accused a ruling party legislator of usurping temple land, violating all rules. Fake documents were created to encroach upon the land for the legislator’s family, he said.
The former Chief Minister also said the AINRC-led NDA government had completely had failed to control the lottery menace. “Three number lotteries are widely being sold even openly in the Bus Stand area. If the government failed to control, poor families will become victims,” he added.
