The ongoing crisis within Puducherry’s AINRC-led coalition government, which includes the BJP, has intensified. A delegation of seven legislators—comprising three BJP MLAs, a nominated BJP legislator, and three Independents—traveled to New Delhi to demand immediate reforms in the Union territory’s administration. They met with BJP national president J P Nadda on Wednesday, reportedly urging a Cabinet reshuffle and bringing attention to issues of corruption and poor governance.

The recent defeat of Puducherry Home Minister A Namasivayam, a BJP candidate, in the Lok Sabha elections has sparked these demands. Namasivayam, who is Chief Minister and AINRC leader N Rangasamy’s nephew, lost to Congress’s V Vaithilingam by over 1.36 lakh votes. The legislators have informed the high command that this loss was due to poor administration and ineffective leadership by the three-year-old Rangasamy-led UT government.

Concerned AINRC leaders are closely monitoring the situation to understand its implications. If the three BJP MLAs and the Independent MLAs choose to withdraw their support, both the government and the coalition could be at risk.

Talking to Janmabhoomi Thursday evening, Rangasamy said there was nothing he could do in the situation. “Let them (the BJP) solve it.” Asked about BJP MLAs’ charges against his government, including poor governance, Rangasamy laughed: “The government is functioning properly, there are no complaints here. Let them find a solution for the problems within their own party.”

The delegation in Delhi comprises BJP MLAs P M L Kalyanasundaram, A John Kumar, and Kumar’s son Richard, along with Independents M Sivasankaran, P Angalan, and Gollapalli Srinivas Ashok. A BJP MLA informed The Indian Express that their demands include the removal of Namasivayam as minister. They also want the BJP to withdraw from the government and provide external support to avoid being “tainted” by any association with the AINRC.“We do not want to risk our performance in the 2026 Assembly elections,” the MLA said.

Namasivayam was unavailable for comment.

The seven MLAs have also raised issues of alleged “rampant” corruption within the AINRC-BJP government and the administration’s “failure” to address key concerns in their constituencies. They highlighted local issues, such as the proliferation of resto-bars near schools and religious institutions and bribery in recruitment processes, as major factors behind the Lok Sabha poll defeat.

In Puducherry’s 30-member Assembly, the AINRC holds 10 seats and the BJP six, just over the majority mark. However, the coalition is currently secure with the support of six Independents and three nominated legislators. On the Opposition side, the DMK and Congress have a combined strength of eight MLAs.

Interestingly, the BJP had toppled the previous Congress government just two months before the 2021 Assembly elections by poaching key party leaders, including Namasivayam, who was the Congress’s de facto second-in-command. About half a dozen Congress MLAs followed Namasivayam out of the party.

In the subsequent elections, the AINRC-BJP coalition came to power in Puducherry. However, Namasivayam was reportedly unhappy as he had left the Congress with the expectation that the BJP would make him Chief Minister.

The BJP MLAs visiting Delhi, who also met Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, reiterated their pending demand for key positions in autonomous bodies and corporations.