Narayanasamy Has Last Laugh in Race For CM Post in Puducherry

Puducherry: After being in politics for over three decades, AICC General Secretary and former Union Minister V Narayansamy's dream of donning the chief minister's mantle has now come true.

The 69-year-old Narayanasamy, who had served as Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office in the second UPA government after serving as MoS Parliamentary Affairs in UPA-I, did not contest the May 16 assembly polls and will now have to seek election to the Puducherry legislature in a bypoll.

There was hectic competition between Narayanasamy and PCC president A Namassivayam, who was elected for a second consecutive term, for the post of Chief Minister.

But Narayanasamy had the last laugh when he was announced legislature party leader after a meeting of the party's newly- elected MLAs with senior Congress leaders Mukul Wasnik and Sheila Dikshit.

The two were camping in Delhi after the poll results were announced on May 16 holding talks with the party high command, and there was delay in ministry formation because of the tussle.

Of the 21 seats it contested, Congress bagged 15 in the 30-member territorial assembly while its ally DMK secured two.

A former Rajya Sabha member for three terms, he had established close contact with the high command during his tenure as Minister of State in PMO in UPA-II. Following his election to the Lok Sabha in 2009, he had also come close to the top brass at the Centre.

Although, he was defeated in the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 by ruling AINRC, he persisted in consolidating the Congress and his dream to come back to state politics and don the Chief Minister's mantle has now come true.

A law graduate, Narayanasamy did legal practice for more than ten years since 1973 and jumped into active politics in 1985 and was elected for the first time to Rajya Sabha and retained for the RS seat in 1991.

However, he was defeated in the contest for the RS seat in 1997 by DMK and regained the seat only in 2003. When he was PCC president in 2007, he proved his organisational capability constituting committees at the booth and block levels.