The Assembly on Wednesday witnessed heated exchanges between members belonging to the ruling Congress and the principal Opposition the All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) on the role of Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi in the administrative affairs of the Union Territory.
Just as the House resumed after six days, Speaker V. Vaithilingam invited AINRC member Ashok Anand to speak on the motion of thanks to Lieutenant Governor’s address.
The ruling party members were on their feet just as Mr. Anand commenced his speech praising Ms. Bedi as a “good administrator and non-corrupt officer.” He cited the efficient clearance of files by Ms. Bedi as only one sign of her administrative acumen.
As the legislator went on to delve into the “contributions” of Ms. Bedi in the police service,
Social Welfare Minister M. Kandasamy, Parliamentary Secretary to Chief Minister K. Lakshminarayanan and Government whip R.K.R. Ananantharaman were on their feet questioning the AINRC member’s propriety in speaking about the qualities of the Lt. Governor instead of debating her address to the Assembly.
Mr. Kandasamy said the member had misinformed the House about the fast clearance of files. On the contrary, the Minister said files were getting delayed at Raj Nivas.
They sought a response from Mr. Anand on Ms. Bedi’s remarks against elected representatives and AINRC government.
Mr. Lakshminarayanan said the Lt. Governor had commented about “mismanagement by the AINRC government.” He wanted to know whether Mr. Anand approved of her remarks.
With AIADMK (Amma faction) leader A. Anbalagan supporting the Congress members on the issue, the House plunged into chaos even as the Speaker appealed for calm.
Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy made a short intervention appealing to members not to discuss anything pertaining to Lt. Governor in the House.
Speaker’s appeal
The Speaker appealed to the members not to drag the Lt. Governor into the discussion. He requested the members to debate the motion.
However, the ruling party and AINRC member continued to trade charges against one another.
After a while, Mr. Anand as a mark of protest against Congress member’s “obstructionist” attitude staged a walkout along with his party colleagues N.S.J. Jayabal alias Ayyanar and Chandirapriyanga.
