Puducherry: Cabinet likely by next week

PUDUCHERRY: There is an air of expectancy that things may happen any moment now with regard to the induction of ministers and cabinet formation, but it is a false alarm with the formation of the government likely to take place only next week. Also, Lieutenant Governor Iqbal Singh will not be in station leaving as he is to his native Jalandhar in Punjab on Thursday and scheduled to return on June 4 or 5.The Chief Minister’s sudden visit to the temple of Appa Paithiyam Swamy near Salem along with party MLAs and the lone independent MLA supporting the government on Wednesday morning raised expectations of the Chief Minister having finalised the names of MLAs for induction into the cabinet. After getting the green signal from his guru Appa Pathiyamswamy on his choice of ministers, he is expected to have given the names to the Lieutenant Governor after the swearing-in of the pro-tem speaker, on Wednesday. With more than two weeks since the formation of the government, the necessity to induct ministers has become a priority for proper administration.However, the Chief Minister is expected to induct a maximum of three ministers and keep two berths vacant to be filled at a later stage. This is because AINRC with the support of the lone independent has a wafer thin majority and is, therefore, looking for an alliance partner to support the government. Rangasamy is keeping options open for making up with electoral ally, the AIADMK, or tying up with the Congress, the parent party from which he broke away. If the support to the government is from outside, he would fill up by choosing from AINRC MLAs.As of now, one of the ministers is likely to be from Karaikal which could be a toss-up between former minister M Chandrakasu and independent VMC Sivakumar. While Chandrakasu would be preferred having been with Rangasamy all along and also going by the kind of importance that Rangasamy had given him at the party’s first public meeting on March 6, all would depend on the former minister’s state of health to take up the responsibilities as minister. In such a case, Chandrakasu may be the choice for the Speaker’s post.  Former minister P Rajavelu, another  Rangasamy loyalist, could be the likely choice among the other two berths, while the third is expected to be a first-time minister.