Bedi comes under flak for her stand

Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi has come under flak for her decision not to allow the ruling Congress to file a contempt petition against the Centre on the Cauvery issue.

At an all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy on Monday, several leaders criticised the decision of Ms. Bedi to allow the government to file only an interlocutory petition instead of a contempt petition.

Mr. Narayanasamy had termed her decision “amusing.”

“Ms. Bedi returned the file stating permission has to be sought from the Centre. How can we approach the Centre when the case itself is against the Union government. Her decision is amusing,” the Chief Minister said.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Chief Minister K. Lakshminarayanan said Ms. Bedi’s decision was unilateral and against the interest of farmers.

Questioning the propriety of Ms. Bedi writing a letter to the Prime Minister after the deadline for setting up the Cauvery Management Board ended, he said it was only “an eye wash.” The Chief Minister had written letter to the Prime Minister months ago and there had been no response to it, Mr. Lakshminarayanan added.

Her decision not to allow the government to file contempt petition would only do damage to the people of the Union Territory.

“This case is not something new to the government. The government has contested this case for the last 20 years. Even the Supreme Court has admitted our claims regarding the Cauvery issue. We are a party to the judgment. The Lt Governor’s understanding of the contempt petition is wrong,” he said.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has called for a meeting of political parties on Wednesday to discuss the Cauvery issue.

DMK leader in the Assembly R. Siva said the party cadre would hold a demonstration in front of the Raj Nivas on April 12 against the stand taken by the Lt Governor. A series of protests have been planned across the Union Territory in the coming week, he said.

Political parties in Puducherry have extended support to the bandh call given by the working president of the DMK, M.K. Stalin, on April 5.