Kiran Bedi removed as Puducherry L-G
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 16
Hours after the Congress government lost majority in Puducherry following the resignation by an MLA, President Ram Nath Kovind removed Lieutenant-Governor Kiran Bedi and gave additional charge of the post to Telangana Governor Tamilsai Soundararajan.
The change of guard is being seen as the ruling BJP tactic to placate turncoat Congress MLAs, some of who wanted Bedi replaced.
Local Congress leaders had long been accusing Bedi of hampering the development of Puducherry, an agenda the BJP wants addressed as political equations in Puducherry change ahead of the upcoming elections.
BJP bid to woo Congress MLAs
- Move being seen as BJP tactic to placate turncoat Congress MLAs
- Some of them wanted Bedi replaced ahead of Assembly elections
- Cong govt now has 14 MLAs in 30-member Assembly
The Congress government lost majority after MLA A John Kumar resigned today, leaving the Congress with 10 lawmakers and its supporter DMK with three, besides an Independent.
Two Congress MLAs had resigned on January 25 and joined the BJP. In all, four party lawmakers resigned and a fifth was earlier disqualified for anti-party work.
The Puducherry Assembly has 30 members and three nominated ones. With changed equations, both the ruling and the Opposition sides have 14 MLAs each. The Congress lost numbers in the Assembly just a day before Rahul Gandhi’s visit for a campaign. This will be Gandhi’s first visit here.
Bedi was appointed LG in 2016 and has since been involved in a war of words with CM V Narayanasamy who, in a rare act, staged a dharna outside the Raj Bhavan in 2019 demanding Bedi’s recall.
Soundararajan, the former Tamil Nadu BJP chief, was appointed Telangana Governor in September 2019. The Congress had won 15 seats in the 2016 polls. It wrested power with three DMK and one Independent MLA. The Opposition AIADMK has four MLAs, All India NR Congress seven and the BJP three nominated MLAs.
