Dr. Kiran Bedi removed as Puducherry Lieutenant Governor

Dr. Kiran Bedi has been removed as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry while Governor of Telangana, Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan, has been given the additional charge as Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. The development has come on the day when the Congress-led government in the Union Territory slipped into a minority after one more legislator resigned reducing its tally in the assembly.

Kiran Bedi will "cease to hold" the office of the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said Tuesday night.

The President has directed that Dr. Kiran Bedi shall cease to hold the office of the Lieutenant-Governor of Puducherry and has appointed Dr.

Tamilisai Soundararajan, Governor of Telangana, to discharge the functions of the Lieutenant-Governor of Puducherry, in addition to her own duties, with effect from the date she assumes charge of her office, until regular arrangements for the office of Lieutenant-Governor of Puducherry are made," Ajay Kumar Singh, press secretary to the President, said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, the Congress government in the union territory lost its majority with another ruling party legislator resigning on Tuesday, reducing the numbers of the party-led alliance to 14 in the assembly with an effective strength of 28.

Seizing on the opportunity, the opposition which also has 14 MLAs in the 33-member house, demanded the resignation of Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, saying his government was in minority.

However,



Narayanasamy rejected the demand, claiming that his government continued to enjoy 'majority' in the assembly, which is set to go for polls in the next few months.

Congress MLA A John Kumar resigned from his MLA post and the party on Tuesday, becoming the fourth legislator to quit the assembly since last month, dealing a blow ahead of the elections.

With Kumar's resignation, the strength of the Congress in the assembly has decreased to ten including Speaker. Its ally DMK has three members and an independent also supports the government.

The simple majority in the assembly with the reduced strength is 15. Polls are likely in April and the House's term ends on June 8, 2021.

The development came a day ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to the union territory to launch the party's campaign.

The party position in the assembly as of Tuesday: Congress (ten), DMK three, All-India NR Congress seven, AIADMK four, BJP three (all nominated and have voting rights) and one independent.

Four Congress MLAs have resigned while one member had been disqualified.

"I have resigned from the party as well. I am sending the letter to Puducherry Congress Committee chief AV Subramanian," Kumar, a confidante of Narayanasamy and who was elected from the Kamaraj Nagar segment in 2019 bypoll, told PTI.

Party sources indicated that Kumar is likely to join the BJP, seen as a repeat of what is happening in West Bengal with the Trinamool Congress, though not on a similar scale here.