Kiran Bedi curtails Delhi tour, Puducherry CM Narayanasamy lays down conditions to attend meeting with her
Bosco Dominique | TNN | Feb 17, 2019, 19:28 IST
Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy and others sitting outside Raj Nivas as their protest entered the fifth day on SundayPUDUCHERRY: Puducherry lieutenant governor Kiran Bedi curtailed her tour to Delhi and returned to Puducherry on Sunday afternoon in the wake of a stir launched by chief minister V Narayanasamy accusing her of stalling the development projects of the elected government in the Union territory of Puducherry. She invited him for a discussion at Raj Nivas on Sunday evening.
However, Narayanasamy laid down a few conditions to attend the meeting. In a letter on Sunday afternoon, the chief minister said he along with his cabinet colleagues, his parliamentary secretary and government whip would attend the meeting, which should be held at the conference hall in chief secretariat ‘in order to have a neutrality’. Bedi had invited them for discussion at Raj Nivas.
“During the meeting, all the 39 issues raised by me in the letter dated February 7 shall be discussed. Chief secretary, DGP, secretaries concerned, collector and all heads of the departments shall be present so that the issues can be thrashed out at the earliest,” he said.
He insisted that all the officers must be present without fail “with all relevant files and such other details required for solving the issue. He also insisted that lieutenant governor’s consultant/officer on special duty (Theva Neethi Dhas) must not attend the meeting.”
Earlier, in an open response to Bedi’s open letter, Narayanasamy said Puducherry is no different to the democratic governance model. “We, the elected representatives are answerable to the people of Puducherry, who have elected us to office. We need to fulfil the promises we have made, on the basis of which we have been elected. I do request Hon’ble LG to stop trying to run a parallel government in Puducherry as if we are in a monarchy,” he said.
Narayanasamy also urged Bedi to stop claiming that Puducherry is cleaner, safer and greener because of her. “It actually demotivates the cadres of employees, field officials, officers and finally us, the people’s representatives. Just because of visiting places and scolding officials, things do not change on the ground. We, the elected representatives, work with the officials and field workers on ground, round-the-clock, to make our Puducherry cleaner and greener,” he said.
Similarly, Bedi must stop claiming credit for any financial prudence in Puducherry. “Our Puducherry finance has been in debt trap ever since a separate consolidated fund has been put in place for Puducherry UT in 2009. The historical debt trap has created a vicious cycle, which is hampering our fiscal health,” he said.
He regretted that the Centre had not fulfilled the repeated demands of the Puducherry government to waive off historical loans. “It looks like political apartheid,” he said.
He also accused her of stalling the development of Puducherry. “…you even refuse to release those funds which we have already received in Puducherry from various central ministries (such as tourism etc.) under the CSS (centrally sponsored schemes). I openly challenge that neither your good-self helped us solve our long-pending financial issues with the government of India nor you quickly release funds which have already been sent to Puducherry by various central ministries,” he said.
He further charged that Bedi had misquoted the rules to grab financial powers of the elected government. “You are acting like a modern-day dictator in a democratic setup like ours. I do advise your good-self not to be too obsessed with the centralisation of power and to follow democratic decentralisation of power. Hon’ble LG should understand the limitations of her appointed authority vis-à-vis elected authority. Democracy in Puducherry cannot be reduced to of the Hon’ble LG, by the Hon’ble LG and for Hon’ble LG. The power of people always reign supreme and it shall continue to be so in Puducherry,” he said.
Bedi was scheduled to return to Puducherry on February 20. She left Puducherry on February 14, a day after Narayanasamy launched the stir. Before leaving Puducherry, she invited Narayanasamy for discussions at 10am on February 21. The stir entered the fifth day on Sunday.
However, Narayanasamy laid down a few conditions to attend the meeting. In a letter on Sunday afternoon, the chief minister said he along with his cabinet colleagues, his parliamentary secretary and government whip would attend the meeting, which should be held at the conference hall in chief secretariat ‘in order to have a neutrality’. Bedi had invited them for discussion at Raj Nivas.
“During the meeting, all the 39 issues raised by me in the letter dated February 7 shall be discussed. Chief secretary, DGP, secretaries concerned, collector and all heads of the departments shall be present so that the issues can be thrashed out at the earliest,” he said.
He insisted that all the officers must be present without fail “with all relevant files and such other details required for solving the issue. He also insisted that lieutenant governor’s consultant/officer on special duty (Theva Neethi Dhas) must not attend the meeting.”
Earlier, in an open response to Bedi’s open letter, Narayanasamy said Puducherry is no different to the democratic governance model. “We, the elected representatives are answerable to the people of Puducherry, who have elected us to office. We need to fulfil the promises we have made, on the basis of which we have been elected. I do request Hon’ble LG to stop trying to run a parallel government in Puducherry as if we are in a monarchy,” he said.
Narayanasamy also urged Bedi to stop claiming that Puducherry is cleaner, safer and greener because of her. “It actually demotivates the cadres of employees, field officials, officers and finally us, the people’s representatives. Just because of visiting places and scolding officials, things do not change on the ground. We, the elected representatives, work with the officials and field workers on ground, round-the-clock, to make our Puducherry cleaner and greener,” he said.
Similarly, Bedi must stop claiming credit for any financial prudence in Puducherry. “Our Puducherry finance has been in debt trap ever since a separate consolidated fund has been put in place for Puducherry UT in 2009. The historical debt trap has created a vicious cycle, which is hampering our fiscal health,” he said.
He regretted that the Centre had not fulfilled the repeated demands of the Puducherry government to waive off historical loans. “It looks like political apartheid,” he said.
He also accused her of stalling the development of Puducherry. “…you even refuse to release those funds which we have already received in Puducherry from various central ministries (such as tourism etc.) under the CSS (centrally sponsored schemes). I openly challenge that neither your good-self helped us solve our long-pending financial issues with the government of India nor you quickly release funds which have already been sent to Puducherry by various central ministries,” he said.
He further charged that Bedi had misquoted the rules to grab financial powers of the elected government. “You are acting like a modern-day dictator in a democratic setup like ours. I do advise your good-self not to be too obsessed with the centralisation of power and to follow democratic decentralisation of power. Hon’ble LG should understand the limitations of her appointed authority vis-à-vis elected authority. Democracy in Puducherry cannot be reduced to of the Hon’ble LG, by the Hon’ble LG and for Hon’ble LG. The power of people always reign supreme and it shall continue to be so in Puducherry,” he said.
Bedi was scheduled to return to Puducherry on February 20. She left Puducherry on February 14, a day after Narayanasamy launched the stir. Before leaving Puducherry, she invited Narayanasamy for discussions at 10am on February 21. The stir entered the fifth day on Sunday.
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