PUDUCHERRY: Tension prevailed in the tourist town for more than five hours on Tuesday after chief minister V Narayanasamy, his cabinet colleagues and a couple of elected members of the ruling party staged a sit-in dharna on the roads leading to Raj Nivas, lieutenant governor Kiran Bedi's office-cum-residence.
It all began when welfare minister M Kandasamy, who launched a sit-in protest on the legislative assembly premises on January 10 demanding Bedi to fulfil his 15-point charter of demands, left assembly for Raj Nivas to meet Bedi without obtaining a prior appointment with her. All the roads leading to Raj Nivas were blocked as a preventive measure after the ruling Congress and its allies announced a series of protests against Bedi. The Central Reserve Paramilitary Force (CRPF) personnel posted in the region prevented the minister from reaching Raj Nivas, forcing him to stage a sit-in protest on the road in front of Romain Rolland Library. As soon as the news spread that the minister has launched a dharna on the road, Narayanasamy, health minister Malladi Krishna Rao, Congress MP (Lok Sabha) V Vaithilingam and a couple of Congress MLAs rushed to meet the minister. However, they were prevented by the CRPF personnel from reaching the protest venue of the minister.
Irked over the CRPF's denial to permit them to meet the minister, Narayanasamy and others squatted on the road and staged a protest near the DGP's office.
Meanwhile, senior police officials met Bedi at Raj Nivas and briefed her about the developments. They later held talks with Narayanasamy following which the chief minister alone was permitted to meet the minister. Narayanasamy convinced Kandasamy to drop the protest stating that he had sought an appointment with the President of India to urge him to recall Bedi for 'interfering in the day-to-day affairs of the elected government'.