Bengaluru: Former Puducherry chief minister, the Congress’ V. Narayanasamy, whose government lost majority in the union territory Monday, alleged that former Lieutenant-Governor Kiran Bedi was a tool in the hands of the Modi government and “disrupted” his administration on a daily basis.
In an interview with ThePrint, Narayansamy said the central government and Bedi connived to ensure that there was no development in the union territory.
“They were working together so that there was no development in my state and the blame would fall on my government,” he said.
Both Bedi and Narayanasamy had locked horns throughout her tenure as L-G — the former IPS officer was removed from her post on 16 February, days before the Congress government fell.
The tug of war between the two began as soon as Bedi took over as Puducherry L-G on 29 May 2016.
The bone of contention was Narayanasamy allegations that Bedi exceeded her brief as L-G and interfered with his government’s working.
Such was the tussle that in February 2019, Narayanasamy sat on a dharna outside the Raj Bhavan in Puducherry to protest against what he called “authoritarian rule of Bedi”.
The case was also in court as K. Laksminarayanan, a Congress MLA, had challenged two communications issued in January and June 2017, by the Ministry of Home Affairs “elevating” the power of the administrator.
The Madras High Court had in 2019 ruled that Bedi couldn’t interfere in the day-to-day affairs of the government but the matter moved to the Supreme Court.
Also read: Kiran Bedi’s removal right step, Raj Bhawans must not act like offices of party at the Centre
‘BJP behind my government’s fall’
Narayanasamy’s resignation Monday, ahead of a trust vote in the assembly, marks the end of the last Congress government in the South.
The chief minister had been forced to quit as the ruling Congress coalition had been hit by the resignations of six MLAs, including one from the DMK, in the last few weeks. That left the coalition with 12 MLAs, two short of a simple majority in the now 26-member House.
Narayanasamy blamed the BJP for the situation, saying the party ran an “Operation Kamala” to engineer defections in the Congress and ally DMK.
He alleged that the BJP had been trying to destabilise his government for the last four-and-a-half years but before this, he had managed to thwart it every time.
“The BJP has been bringing in people from Delhi, using their power in the Centre and money power with the plans to topple my government,” he said. “They have been planning this for the last four-and-a-half years.”
The veteran Congress leader also said that the BJP’s agenda was to ensure that he was not the chief minister when Modi visited the union territory. The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Puducherry Thursday (tomorrow).
“That was their game plan. They achieved it by luring MLAs and leaders from my party,” Narayanasamy said. “If the Congress MLAs had any grievances, they would have left long back in my tenure. They have done it at the fag end of my term as it is a ploy of the BJP to topple my government and they succeeded.”
The chief minister also said he had no regrets. “There were just 10 days left in my five-year term. It is not a big deal,” he said. “I am fully satisfied with my performance.”
Also read: What BJP is planning in Puducherry after Congress govt falls as CM resigns before trust vote