Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi has dismissed the concerted attacks against her in the House as a reaction to her refusal to be a rubber-stamp administrator.
“I do not respond to noise. ...I understand why its being made,” she remarked.
Claiming that all the brouhaha boiled down the basic question of whether she should be a rubber stamp administrator, a mere endorser (of Government) or onlooker ensconced in the comfort of the Raj Nivas, Ms. Bedi said, “I care for Pondicherry and its people... especially the vulnerable. I will continue to ensure that the interests of Puducherry are well served and protected.”
Hitting back at Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy for stating that the Lt. Governor should not step beyond mandate, Ms. Bedi sought to know what were expectations from her.
Ms. Bedi alleged that the Chief Minister seemed to want an endorser who “may let wrongs happen even when people are suffering, who clears files without seeking clarity, who appoints people as per whims and fancies of vested interests or who releases moneys even if it is not budgeted for...”
“In reality he can feel empowered and enthused that there is someone here to help him clean up the mess in Puducherry,” Ms. Bedi said.
According to Ms. Bedi this is the real issue — what a CM wants and what an LG wants?
“Both have their responsibilities laid down in the UT Act and in the Business Rules. It is how one reads or misreads; or ignores reading; or does not want to face the realities of the situations today,” she said in an apparent reference to students’ sufferings related to PG medical admissions.
