Chennai: Six days after launching protests against Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi's alleged interference in state policies, Puducherry chief minister V Narayanaswamy temporarily called off his dharna on Monday night, after holding discussions with Bedi.
Narayanasamy, his cabinet colleagues and MLAs from both the Congress and the DMK have been staging a dharna against Bedi in front of the Raj Nivas in Puducherry since February 13 against her "negative stand" towards the various proposals of the state government.
Earlier on February 7, Narayanaswamy mentioned 39 demands in a letter to the Lt Governor.
Speaking to reporters after calling off his dharna, the CM claimed that Kiran Bedi has agreed to most of the demands, and hence, he has called off the dharna. “She has assured that she will fulfill our demands. We discussed the delegation of financial power to the state.”
“The home minister had earlier sent an advisory to give the delegation of financial power to the government of Puducherry. She has agreed on that and would give financial power from April, 2019,” he added.
Narayansamy expressed his gratitude towards the people of Puducherry for sitting on dharna with him. He also thanked DMK president MK Stalin, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, leaders from the Congress and other politicians, who expressed solidarity to his protest.
On Monday, Kejriwal met Narayanaswamy and in a jibe to the Lt. Governor, said. “The fundamental part of a constitution is democracy. The Puducherry chief minister is accountable to the people. Who is Kiran Bedi accountable to? This is the same kind of interference that we face in Delhi."
Referring to Kiran Bedi’s defeat in 2015 Delhi state elections, Kejriwal said, “It is against democracy that people who are defeated in elections are in positions of power."
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