Kiran Bedi.
Puducherry Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Kiran Bedi on Monday hit out at Chief Minister V Narayanasamy. She said that he wants a rubber stamp L-G, who will merely be an onlooker and enjoy benefits of an “expensive establishment called Raj Niwas”.
“So what does the honourable CM want? A rubber stamp or a responsible administrator? That is the real question. He desires an endorser. One who may let wrongs happen even when people are suffering injustice,’’ she said in a statement. “(He) wants an L-G who clears files without seeking clarity. One who appoints people as per whims and fancies of vested interest. One who releases money even if it is not budgeted for.’’
Bedi said that the Raj Niwas has become “the only hope for people facing injustice, for students facing admission troubles as their problems could only be solved by someone whose heart beats for them.”
She accused Narayanasamy of looking for an L-G who would promote officers with poor performance and punish those with courage of conviction. “(He wants me to) stay isolated. Do not meet people. Do not question officers. Do not interfere. Just do as he tells, even in writing. I have received several such letters from him. Most of all the CM wants me to get lots of money from the Government of India, even when they can’t spend well what they have. Even when revenue-generating tourism is loss making.’’
Bedi said that Puducherry is Narayanasamy’s by birth but hers by adoption. She added that it should have made him feel good that he had somebody to raise the social consciousness of the region and help him clean up the mess in his home state.
“The real issue is what a CM wants and what an L-G wants. Both have their responsibilities laid down in the UT Act and in the business rules. It is how he reads or misreads. Or ignores reading,” Bedi said.
Narayanasamy and Bedi, who was BJP’s Delhi CM face in 2015, had earlier clashed over action against an officer, who had allegedly sent objectionable material on a WhatsApp group that she had started.
