BJP minister Namassivayam participated in the RSS rally at a time Puducherry's electricity department workers are on strike, leading to massive power outages in the Union Territory.
Participation of sitting BJP ministers in the RSS rally in Puducherry have raised questions.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Sunday, 2 October, held a route march amid heavy security in the Union territory of Puducherry to mark the 75th year of Indian Independence, Vijayadashami, which is also the founding day of the saffron organisation, and the birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.
Even though no permission was granted for the RSS rally in Tamil Nadu by the state government citing law-and-order issues, it was carried out in the Union territory where hundreds of RSS workers participated in the procession.
However, what raised questions was the presence of BJP ministers like Namassivayam and AK Sai J Saravanankumar in the march, clad in the RSS uniform.
Speaking to South First, V Narayanasamy, senior congress leader and former chief minister of Puducherry, charged that the ministers participating in the RSS rally, an ideological organisation, was against the Constitution and the oath they took while assuming charge.
Countering the RSS march, parties like the Congress, DMK and VCK, among others, formed a human chain in Puducherry to promote communal harmony.
More importantly, the participation of minister Namassivayam, who holds the electricity portfolio among other ministries, in the RSS procession comes at a time when employees of the electricity department in Puducherry are on an indefinite strike against the move of the NDA government to privatise power distribution operations in the Union territory.
A picture from the RSS rally in Puducherry held on Sunday. (Twitter/ SG Suryah)
This led to the Opposition questioning the priorities of Namassivayam as Puducherry witnessed a massive power blackout for several hours on Saturday evening due to the ongoing strike by the employees of the electricity department, including engineers.
In some pockets, the power outage lasted for over 12 hours. This led to people staging a protest against the authorities, and in some places, leaders from the Congress also joined the agitating citizens.
For instance, Shakirudeen Farooq, who came to his home town from Bengaluru on Saturday morning, was in for a rude shock when his family informed him that the power was out for several hours. The outage continued for at least 12 hours, leading to several issues such as families not being able to pump water from tanks.
M Vaithianathan, Congress MLA, slammed the BJP minister for participating in what he believed was an “unwanted” and “unnecessary” rally by the RSS at a time when people were facing issues over power.
“The RSS march itself was unnecessary. It was an attempt to disturb communal harmony in Puducherry. Due to the alliance pressures, the rally was given permission in the Union territory. People are facing trouble. Instead of focusing on these issues, why did the minister participate in the rally? It was not even important,” the Congress MLA told South First.
Former chief minister Narayanasamy accused Nammasivyam of being a “chameleon” who has switched from one party to another.
“He was never in the RSS earlier. So why did he participate in the rally? He wants to cling on to power somehow. That’s the reason,” Narayanasamy charged.
Meanwhile, the indefinite strike announced by electricity department workers in Puducherry entered the sixth day.
The protest started after the NDA government floated a tender on 27 September seeking bids to sell 100 percent of its stake in power distribution and retail supply to private players. According to the protesting workers, the move to invite bids was based on a proposal from the Centre to privatise power distribution operations in the Union territory.
More than 20,000 workers are participating in the protest. The workers said that they would not attend to any power outage or failure, maintenance works, bill collection, meter reading and other such duties until the government withdraws the decision to privatise the power sector. They also demand that they should be allowed to work in the same capacity as a government employee till their retirement.
Picture from the protest staged by electricity workers against the govt over move to privatise the power sector. (Credit: AIFAP)
Amid the protests, Puducherry plunged into darkness on Saturday for several hours in the evening due to the power disruption. The government alleged that few protesting employees took away the fuse carriers at sub-stations such as Villiyanur and Bahour to cause a deliberate power disruption.
The electricity minister held an emergency meeting with top officials over the issue, and later said that strict action would be taken against those employees whose actions allegedly led to the disruption of power in the Union territory.
Likewise, Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan warned the protestors of action under the Essential Services Maintenance Act, which the government can invoke to prohibit striking employees from refusing to work in certain essential services.
“You (protestors) may have several demands. But is it right to disrupt power? If anyone is found to be removing the fuse or cutting the lines, if they indulge in such acts, they will have to face serious consequences… Cases will be registered and, once identified, they will have to face legal action,” the LG added.
On Sunday night, several electricity workers were detained by the police.
In view of the situation, security has been stepped up at power sub-stations, and the authorities have also called-in two companies of Central Reserved Police Force.
As part of the contingency plan, a 25-member team from the Power Grid Corporation of India is also reportedly helping with calibrating power supply in Puducherry, and retired employees have been called in to tide over the crisis.
The Congress party in Puducherry demanded the government withdraw its plan to privatise the power sector.
Speaking to South First, senior leader Narayanasamy claimed that he had rejected the privatisation proposal from the Centre when he was the chief minister.
“There is no necessity for privatisation. The electricity department In Puducherry is not running at a loss. If it is privatised, the power tariff would go up, and people will suffer. This is unnecessarily being imposed on the people by the Centre. There is no coordination between the BJP and the NR Congress on matters of governance despite being in an alliance. The chief minister is being a mute spectator to everything,” he charged.
Parties belonging to the Secular Progressive Alliance in Puducherry such as the CPI(M), Congress, DMK, VCK, CPI, MNMK and IUML staged a protest and a road-block on 1 October near the Anna statue demanding the immediate withdrawal of the move to privatise the power operations.
Likewise, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) also extended its support to the electricity workers.
Stop the privatization of electricity in Puducherry@cituhq (CITU) congratulates the employees and engineering staffs of the Department of Electricity in Puducherry Union Territory who are on indefinite strike from 28th September onwards to resist the Central government’s +1
— CPI(M) Puducherry ☭ (@pycpim) October 2, 2022
In a statement, the CITU said: “CITU, while expressing its unflinching solidarity to the struggling Puducherry Electricity Employees and Workers, calls upon the working class in general and all its affiliates in particular to stand in firm and to extend support to them who are fighting heroically.”
The trade union also recalled massive protests by workers in other union territories like Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh where the central government tried to implement privatisation in the power sector.
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