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Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee president V. Vaithilingam on Friday said around 2.5 lakh people in the Union Territory have joined the Indian National Congress’ ‘Vote Chor-Gaddi Chod’ nationwide signature campaign “to expose the BJP’s electoral manipulation”. Addressing a press conference, he said the party national leadership would collate the list of signatories across the country and submit them to the President. On the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral roll in Puducherry, he said the party had appealed to the Election Department to cancel the SIR in the Union Territory. However, since the exercise was under way, the party’s Booth Level Agents (BLAs) would work in coordination with Booth Level Officers of the Election Department, Mr. Vaithilingam said. Vigilance probe Asked about the arrest of former officials in the Health Department in connection with purchase of drugs during the tenure of previous Congress government, he said the procurement of substandard drugs in violation of rules was a serious issue. “In fact, Malladi Krishna Rao who was handling the Health portfolio during the time of the Congress government should also be probed,” Mr. Vaithilingam said. Mr. Rao had resigned from the Cabinet during the fag end of the tenure of the Congress government. He later gave up his Yanam constituency for the AINRC founder and incumbent Chief Minister, N. Rangasamy, to contest in the 2021 Assembly polls. When the AINRC-BJP alliance came to power, the government appointed Mr. Rao as its Special Representative to New Delhi. Mr. Vaithilingam said the AINRC-BJP government should now show courage to remove Mr. Rao from the post and include him in the vigilance probe. “Mr. Narayanasamy has come forward to face any inquiry on the drug procurement issue. Now, Mr. Rao should respond on the issue,” he said.
