Call it Puducherry’s brand of round-the-clock competitive politics, literally.
Not too long ago, the Union Territory’s Constitutional head, Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi and political supremo Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy had impressed with their postures during International Yoga Day. Now, their bid to outdo one another seems to be extending into the night hours as well.
If only last month, Ms. Bedi went on the night prowl during an incognito pillion ride on scooter for what she called a check on women’s safety on the streets, it was the Chief Minister’s turn to try and go one better on Wednesday night when he conducted a tour of the city riding a two-wheeler covering nine constituencies.
It could be more than a simple coincidence that Mr. Narayanasamy chose to initiate his night rounds at 8.45 p.m. from the vicinity of the Raj Nivas.
The Chief Minister’s ride through the streets of the city in the company of Cabinet colleague and Agriculture Minister R. Kamalakannan, and police escorts turned out to be quite a spectacle for those fortunate night owls who were still up and about.
Mr. Narayanasamy and his entourage rode through Muthialpet, Lawspet, Kadirgamam, Indira Nagar, Oulgaret, Nellithope, Mudaliarpet and Uppalam constituencies before winding up the patrol at 11.30 p.m.
‘Repair streetlights
“I spent around three hours visiting arterial roads and residential areas. One of the major deficiencies noticed was the non-functioning of streetlights in several places. Even in residential areas the street lights were found to be in disrepair. Necessary instructions have been given to repair the street lights,” he said.
And, if the Lieutenant Governor used Twitter as an amplifier of her message, the Chief Minister had his IT team stream the night rounds live on Facebook.
Incidentally, on both occasions, there were a number of reactions that were unsparing of both the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Minister for flouting the helmet rule during their nocturnal inspection rounds.
