It was another day of high drama in Puducherry on Thursday, as Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy continued his dharna in front of the Raj Nivas in protest against the actions of Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi for the second consecutive day. Meanwhile, BJP MLAs in the Union Territory, who were nominated by the lieutenant governor, too came to the streets to protest against Narayanasamy.
“The governor is abusing her powers. She is interfering in the day-to-day affairs of the government and not allowing us to carry out our duties,” says Narayanasamy. Narayanasamy had begun his dharna in front of the Raj Nivas on Wednesday afternoon, demanding Bedi sign 39 government proposals for which the files were still pending for her approval. “There are 39 files waiting for her signature, which includes several welfare schemes such as the free rice scheme,” he said.
Clad in a black dhoti and a black shirt, Narayanasamy, along with his cabinet colleagues, continued his dharna overnight. “The continued rejection of government proposals to help the poor and the needy has brought us here,” Narayanasamy declared.
"We are sitting on a dharna in a peaceful manner, in a Gandhian way, to highlight the autocratic manner of functioning of the (lieutenant) governor. I wrote several letters to administrators, but she did not approve at all of our schemes. If she approves her files, we will withdraw our dharna,” he declared.
Meanwhile, Bedi, who came out of the Raj Nivas to set out for New Delhi, in a letter, came down heavily on Narayanasamy and the cabinet for staging the dharna.
She stated, “The ministers have levelled unfounded allegations against me.” Stating that the MLAs and the chief minister had turned from lawmakers to lawbreakers, Bedi said it was sad to see a chief minister sending a letter to the lieutenant governor and within a week demanding a reply by force of a dharna.
“He also makes unfounded allegations, misleading people in Puducherry. He openly dares violation of the Motor Vehicles Act on wearing of helmets to prevent fatal accidents. Today, Raj Nivas was totally surrounded by the CM and his agitators. None of us could move out or visitors could come in. Also, the staff too was blocked from returning to the office. This is an absolutely unlawful situation of lawmakers turned lawbreakers. We are not sure of how the situation will be tomorrow either," Bedi said.
Bedi also said in the letter that she wanted to meet the chief minister on February 21. However Narayanasamy said there was nothing to discuss on February 21. “Let the administrators decide on approving all our schemes and hence there is nothing to be discussed on February 21,” Narayanasamy retorted.
In the meantime, BJP MLAs also took to the streets to protest against the cabinet, asking the administration to make the chief minister and his cabinet members withdraw the protest.
