Charges of delaying files untrue, says LG

Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi on Wednesday said the repeated allegations by Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy and other Ministers that she was holding up files and obstructing governance were untrue.

In response to the Chief Minister’s remark at a press conference the other day that the file for relaying roads damaged by Cyclone Nivar was yet to be approved by the Lt. Governor, Ms. Bedi said there “was no such matter pending before me”.

Accusing the Chief Minister of spreading misinformation and misleading people repeatedly, Ms. Bedi said that in this case, tenders had been called for and relaying works were on.

In an apparent reference to Welfare Minister M. Kandasamy’s recent demand for increased powers for the Cabinet through an amendment to the Union Territory Act and Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao’s remarks that it was pointless to get elected without the power to execute responsibilities, Ms. Bedi said that the discomfiture “among certain class of people could be due to the digital transformations that had broken through monopolies and made the administration direct, transparent and accountable”.

Ms. Bedi said every time the power and responsibility of the Lt. Governor under the Union Territory Act, General Financial Rules or Business Rules was challenged, the position of the Lt. Governor had been reinforced be it by the Supreme Court, Madras High Court or the Government of India.