Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy on Monday came down heavily on Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi and accused her of standing in the way of the Union Territory’s development.
Speaking at a meeting of the Pradesh Congress Committee here, he said that the financial position of the UT was very poor. While there had been a fall in the revenue to the exchequer, the government commitments had escalated.
Mincing no words, he said that instead of extending cooperation to relieve Puducherry of the current predicament, Ms. Bedi had been taking a negative stand against his Ministry.
All the files forwarded to the Lt. Governor by the Chief Minister and his Cabinet were being returned, Mr. Narayanasamy said, adding that this was not a healthy development. The implementation of welfare schemes had suffered a setback.
Mr. Narayanasamy said that though he and his cabinet colleagues called on the Lt. Governor and urged her to work in tandem, she had been non-cooperative. While the Union government had remained cordial, the Lt. Governor was functioning with ill-will towards the administration.
PCC president and PWD Minister A. Namassivayam said an all-party meeting had been convened on Tuesday to discuss the style of functioning of the Lt. Governor.
Sources said the meeting would take important decisions, including sending a delegation to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and senior leaders on the issue.
