Kiran Bedi’s high handedness

In an unprecedented first for a Lieutenant-Governor, Kiran Bedi, the Lieutenant-Governor of Puducherry has appointed and administered oath for three MLAs nominated to the Legislative Assembly by the Union Home Ministry. Normally it is the right of Speaker to appoint lawmakers. The three MLAs are BJP’s Puducherry chief V Saminathan, treasurer KG Shankar and pro-BJP educationist S Selvaganapathy.

Chief Minister V Narayanasamy of the Congress has described the appointment of BJP MLAs as a “cruel insult to rules and regulations” that govern the Union Territory. The three BJP nominations were made without consulting the chief minister or the territorial government, Narayanasamy said. “Despite Puducherry having a functioning Assembly, the lieutenant governor has gone ahead and sworn in the legislators in a hurried manner,” he said.

FIRs pending against BJP leaders

First Information Report copies of cases pending against Saminathan and Selvaganapathy were also released. The DMK(Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) has already announced its plan for a bandh on July 8, along with 24 other pro-Tamil outfits.

Congress government which is in power in Puducherry plans to appeal in the Madras High court against the unconstitutional move of the BJP. The Congress has decided to organise protests against Bedi’s action.

Governors interfering with State governments

This is the third state where the centre is interfering with state government functioning through its “puppet”governors- the first and most obvious one was the Union territory of Delhi where the Kejriwal government was blocked by the Lieutenant –Governor at every corner. Presently a serious public spat is underway between the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal and the BJP governor, K.N.Tripathi.

This interference in State government autonomy and functioning seems to be the new norm for the BJP.