N Rangasamy Takes Oath as Puducherry CM, Other Ministers to Take Oath Later

Puducherry: Ahead of the oath-taking, Rangasamy said his government would strive hard for the development of Puducherry and for amelioration of the welfare of the people.

N Rangasamy takes oath as chief minister of Puducherry. Photo: PTI

Puducherry: AINRC leader N Rangasamy was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Puducherry on Friday at a brief ceremony at Raj Nivas on Friday. Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Rangasamy, who has become Chief Minister for the fourth time. He took the oath in Tamil and in the name of God. Notably, Rangasamy alone took oath on Friday.

Earlier, Chief Secretary Ashwin Kumar read out the Presidential notification appointing Rangasamy as the Chief Minister. The ceremony which began at 1.20 PM lasted for five minutes.

Ahead of the oath-taking, Rangasamy said his government would strive hard for the development of Puducherry and for amelioration of the welfare of the people.

Usually, the strength of a ministry in Puducherry would be six including the Chief Minister. There is however a reported move to have one Deputy Chief Minister now although there is no precedent in this regard.

Add India.com as a Preferred Source

A Namassivayam, who joined the BJP in January after quitting the Congress is tipped for the post of Deputy Chief Minister. The concurrence of the Centre is awaited for the appointment of Deputy Chief Minister.

The AINRC bagged 10 seats out of the 16 it contested in the April 6 polls while the BJP garnered six out of the nine seats it contested.

The total strength of the Assembly is 30 and sixteen is the magic number for formation of a ministry. The AINRC and BJP has a combined strength of 16. There are six independents elected to the House and they are by and large supporters of Rangasamy.