How turmoil in Puducherry BJP is strengthening ally Rangaswamy's hands

Puducherry CM N Rangaswamy

“Heads, I win; tails, you lose.” Very few people emerge stronger from defeat. Puducherry chief minister (AINRC founder) N Rangaswamy is certainly one of them. According to a widely held perception, he ensured the defeat of his alliance partner candidate, A Namassivayam of BJP, in the Lok Sabha election. And if the developments in the Puducherry unit of the BJP are anything to go by, Rangaswamy is only more comfortable politically after the loss suffered by the NDA in Puducherry.

The defeat plunged the BJP unit into turmoil, opening up the cracks and heightening the factionalism. BJP leaders are turning against one another, especially the old guard against the new, even as they blame the Rangaswamy administration. Though Rangaswamy is heading the government, it was the BJP that was calling the shots and it has come as a great shock that Namassivayam lost by 1.36 lakh votes.

A group of MLAs met the party national president JP Nadda in Delhi urging him to not only straighten out the Puducherry administration but also to change the BJP leadership in the union territory. Those who met Nadda include BJP's MLAs PML Kalyanasundaram, and A John Kumar. Also, with them were Independent MLAs supporting AINRC-BJP government: M Sivasankaran, P Angalan and Gollapalli Srinivas Ashok.

They wanted the resignation of Home Minister Namassivayam, who lost to V Vaithilingam of the Congress in the April 19 Lok Sabha election, while demanding that the Puducherry unit president S Selvaganapathy be replaced. They complained that Selvaganapathy’s inactivity led to the poll debacle and that “rampant corruption” in the administration was affecting BJP's stature.

These MLAs, belonging to the old guard of the BJP, who have found an opportunity to capitalise on the electoral loss, complained not only to Nadda, but also to Lt Governor CP Radhakrishnan and Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. At present, they are out of the power echelons and are hoping to get a toehold in any revamp of the party or the government.

As for Rangaswamy, he is watching the development with some amusement and satisfaction. He sees it as an internal tussle within the BJP that doesn't concern him or his government. The nomination of Namassivayam as a candidate was done without any consultation with him, but it suited him very well. A victory for Namassivayam would have taken him out of the Puducherry cabinet and Rangaswamy would have been rid of the clamour to make him the deputy chief minister. A defeat, as it did happen, only undermined Namassivayam 's standing in Puducherry, which is very much to the liking of Rangaswamy.

In all this, Namassivayam is the biggest loser from being the BJP's bet to succeed Rangaswamy to being targeted by his own partymen. And Rangaswamy is the clear winner, with his ally, the BJP, forced into acceptance of a junior role.