Is BJP trying backdoor entry to capture power in Puducherry?

Ministers of the Puducherry Cabinet will be sworn-in on Sunday with two BJP ministers and three All India NR Congress (AINRC) Ministers joining 51 days after Chief Minister N Rangasamy assumed office on May 7.

The BJP contested 10 seats in the Assembly election. It won six seats, marking a historic victory. It was the first time the saffron party was opening its account in the Union Territory.

The BJP is sharing power as a junior partner in the AINRC-led government.

After the swearing-in of Rangasamy as Chief Minister, he contracted Covid-19 and was admitted to a private hospital in Chennai. While the Chief Minister was in hospital, the BJP nominated three of its leaders as legislators thus taking the party tally in the 33-member house to nine.

In the 2021 polls, a record six independents won, and of this, three MLAs extended their support to the BJP. This led to several theories that BJP was trying to enter into a bargaining game with AINRC for getting more ministerial berths and if possible, garner the upper hand in the Cabinet.