Do nominated members in other State legislatures, Union Territories and in Parliament, too, enjoy voting rights during a trust vote?

Expressio unius est exclusio alterius (expression of one subject, object or idea is the exclusion of other subjects, objects or ideas)”, is a maxim in Latin, which is heard quite frequently in law classes as well as in courtrooms. It finds application in the construction of Constitutions, statutes and similar instruments. This phrase came to mind after watching the proceedings in Puducherry that led to the fall of the V Narayanasamy-led Congress Government last week.

The resignation of Narayanasamy as the Chief Minister (CM) has not surprised any of the political observers. The only question being asked by them is why did it take four years for Narayanasamy to quit his post.

Though the BJP is accused of political manipulation, encouraging defections from the ruling party to topple the Government and MK Stalin, the president of the DMK, is accused of murdering democracy, the fact is that the fall of the Congress Government was bound to happen from the day Narayanasamy was sworn in in 2016. 

“Why did the Congress high command appoint Narayanasamy, who had not contested the 2016 Assembly election as CM,  superseding many party heavyweights  in the Union Territory?” wonders Kolahala Srenivasan, political chronicler of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.  “There were seasoned leaders like former CM Vaithilingam  and A Namasivayam who were in the running for the top post,” says Srenivasan.

Narayanasamy, the all-powerful Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime under Manmohan Singh, had been defeated in the Lok Sabha election held in 2014. Sources say that the interests of other Congress leaders were overlooked by the party high command while appointing him. Apparently, there was strong discontentment among the Congress MLAs when he was handpicked by the party president. The appointment of Kiran Bedi, the former super cop of Delhi as the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) of the Union Territory (UT), was like opening another war front by the BJP. Consequently, the running battle between the CM and the L-G hogged the limelight in the last four years. This style of functioning of the L-G was a new experience for the population of the UT and naturally, Narayanasamy got annoyed!

The nomination of three BJP leaders as MLAs by the Union Home Ministry was also on expected lines. But the nominated legislators getting a chance to cast their votes in the trust vote held on Monday has to be explained by the BJP’s national leadership.

What sealed Narayanasamy’s fate was the resignations of K Lakshminarayanan, MLA and former Minister who was also the Parliamentary Secretary to the CM and that of D Venkatesan, an MLA belonging to the DMK. These resignations happened 24 hours before the trust vote. Lakshminarayanan had been complaining since 2016 that the party was not recognising his seniority and experience. He was hurt when he was overlooked by Narayanasamy when Speaker Vaithilingam resigned to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha poll and appointed first-time MLA Sivakozhunthu as the presiding officer of the House.

The resignation of John Kumar from the House, too, speaks about the discontentment that had set in. John Kumar was elected as an MLA in 2016 but resigned his seat to facilitate the election of Narayanasamy to the House. Though John Kumar was elected subsequently to the House in 2019, he too fell out with Narayanasamy eventually.

Though Venkatesan, the DMK MLA, announced his resignation from the House well in advance, the party leadership in Tamil Nadu kept silent over the issue. Despite the declaration by Venkatesan that he quit from the House with the concurrence of his party leader (MK Stalin), the DMK did not do anything till Tuesday to buy peace with him. It was on Tuesday that the party’s general secretary Durai Murugan announced the removal of Venkatesan from all official posts in the party.

Last month saw Stalin deputing party MP and moneybags Jagathrakshakan to rejuvenate the DMK in the UT. “This gave rise to many doubts in the minds of the Congress and DMK leaders in Puducherry. What we saw during the last two days was the impact of this decision,” said Srenivasan.

The question why Jagatrakshakan was sent to Puducherry at this juncture remains unanswered. Narayanasamy did not include his alliance partner, the DMK, in the Government and this resulted in a lot of heartburn.

Though the Congress and the DMK challenged the L-G’s nomination of three BJP leaders to the Assembly, the apex court upheld her act. But how the nominated members were allowed to cast their votes in the Assembly reminds one of the Latin maxim “expresso unius…”

Do nominated members in State legislatures, other UTs and in Parliament, too, enjoy voting rights. There cannot be one rule for Puducherry and another for the rest of the country. Let’s have the same rules for the whole country. This was what Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared when Parliament abrogated Article 370: “Now people in Jammu and Kashmir enjoy the same status as that of the rest of the Indians.” People of Puducherry, too, should get the same status. Shouldn’t they?

The writer is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal.