Puducherry Assembly Speaker quits on health grounds

In the resignation letter to Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, a copy of which was made available to media persons here, Sivakolundhu, a Congress leader, said he quit as Speaker only on health grounds. 

Later, he told PTI that he handed over the letter of resignation addressed to the Lt Governor to the Assembly Secretary. 

Sivakolundhu won from the Lawspet constituency in the 2016 Assembly elections on a Congress ticket. 

Meanwhile, Sivakolundhu's brother V P Ramalingam joined the BJP in Karaikal in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is on a campaign visit. 

Also, former DMK legislator K Venkatesan and former Congress legislator K Lakshminarayanan who had quit their MLA posts on February 21 joined the BJP in Karaikal in the presence of Shah who was in Karaikal to address a public meeting. 

The Puducherry government headed by V Narayanasamy fell on February 22 after the coalition ministry was reduced to a minority following a spate of resignation of Congress MLAs and a DMK legislator. 

President's rule has since been imposed in the union territory while assembly polls are slated for April 6.