Dont include tainted MLAs in Cabinet, CM told

PUDUCHERRY: The National Election Watch, a network of over 1,200 civil society groups across the country, on Tuesday, urged Chief Minister N Rangasamy not to appoint any of the newly-elected MLAs who have criminal cases pending against them as ministers or nominate them to any of the Assembly panels in the new government. In a memorandum to the Chief Minister, the Puducherry co-ordinator of National Election Watch, P Joseph Victor Raj, congratulated Rangasany on the impressive victory of the NR Congress in the Assembly elections. According to him, though there was no doubt that the electorate voted widely in favour of a stable and mature government, there were  a few concerns going by the outcome in the individual constituency level. “What is disconcerting is that as many as nine candidates who have criminal cases pending against them have been elected to the Territorial Assembly according to their own sworn affidavits submitted in pursuance of the Supreme Court judgment on March 13, 2003,” he said.Given the clear nature of the mandate, it is expected that the NR Congress would provide clean and exemplary governance by avoiding the appointment of such candidates as ministers, he added.