The Congress has upped the ante against Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi with a hard-hitting complaint to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh about her “rigidly autocratic, unethical, whimsical and dictatorship,” style of running the administration by “overlooking” an elected government.
In a four-page memorandum, eight Congress legislators appealed to the Union Home Minister to direct the Lieutenant Governor to act “in conformity with the decisions taken by an elected government and not act in a dictatorial style.”
Ms. Bedi had assumed office during the days when a new government was in the process of taking over the reins of the Union Territory. Immediately after taking over, she had started directly issuing directions to the officers.
At that time, the government did not take any serious objection to her style of functioning.
“Conscious that she was new to the assignment and a former vibrant IPS officer, the elected representatives did not take any serious objections. However, even after the assumption of a regular Council of Ministers, her attitude did not change and went on in similar rampage by directly calling officers for daily spot visits, giving suo motu policy directions mostly in the nature of threatening the officers. The elected representatives were given scant respect, not even involved seriously in addressing local issues which are normally within the domain of the elected representatives of the constituencies,” the memorandum said.
‘Provocative step’
The recent step taken by the Lieutenant Governor to cancel an order issued by Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy prohibiting government servants from using social media platform for administrative work suggests that Ms Bedi had “chosen an open collision course” with an elected government, the memorandum said.
Instead of settling conflicting views through mutual discussions, the Lieutenant Governor had become “rigidly autocratic and uncompromising in her attitude,” it added.
Addressing a media conference to inform the ruling party’s decision to approach the Union Home Ministry, parliamentary secretary to the Chief Minister K. Lakshminarayanan said the Ministry should inquire about the conduct of the Lieutenant Governor and take action.
He said the Chief Minister had been so far “magnanimous” in his approach to the Lieutenant Governor but it was not reciprocated.
Asked whether they are demanding a recall of Ms. Bedi, he said: “We are not asking for it but only we want the Ministry to take appropriate steps.”
Mr. Lakshminarayanan told The Hindu that if the Union Home Minister did not intervene the party would approach the President as a next step. Sources in the Congress said as a last resort it would take the fight to the streets along with other like-minded parties.
