Pondicherry upheaval

THE DMK Government in Pondicherry, led by Farook Maricar, has fallen after being in office for four years and nine months. The exit of the government was necessitated by the resignation of two of the four ministers from the Cabinet and the party on Friday. They have joined the ADMK along with another DMK member of the Assembly. The outgoing Chief Minister had earlier said that he still commanded absolute majority, on the flimsy plea that he had received the resignations of the two ministers only from the Cabinet and not from the party and that no other DMK MLA had defected till then. Ultimately, he decided to quit after recommending the dissolution of the Assembly. Even in the normal course, elections to the Pondicherry Assembly are due to be held on February 24, and as such the fall of the government may not make much difference to the people at large as it might to the DMK in the circumstances. Though the resignation of the two ministers appeared to be a sudden development, it followed a growing rift between them and the Chief Minister. The Tamil Nadu CM, Karunanidhi, who is also the DMK President, said he was not shocked by the developments in Pondicherry as he had anticipated them. The defectors have accused both Maricar and Karunanidhi of following an opportunistic political line regarding the ensuing Assembly elections. The two rebel ministers were evidently not pacified even after the DMK high command included them in the state poll committee a month ago. The latest developments in Pondicherry may improve the strength of the ADMK there.