Kiran Bedi appoints Puducherry Lt.Governor

Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, who lost as BJP’s chief ministerial candidate in Delhi Assembly polls last year, was on Sunday appointed Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry.

President Pranab Mukherjee cleared the appointment, which will be “from the date she assumes charge of her office”, a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said.

The post of Lt Governor in Puducherry was vacant for two years, since the sacking of Virendra Kataria by the Narendra Modi-led government in July 2014. Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Island Lt Gen Ajay Singh was holding additional charge of Puducherry.

sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Kiran Bedi’s appointment comes against the backdrop of the Congress preparing to form government in the Union Territory. The Congress has won 15 seats and its ally DMK two in the latest polls for the 30-member Assembly.

In her reaction to the appointment, the 66-year-old former IPS officer said she would assume the office by the weekend. Asked about her priorities, she told.“Every department is important. All departments should deliver. I will be part of the system from inside and not from outside. My priority will be bottom-up approach, I would like to make the constable, the teacher in a school feel that he or she is most important.”“I stand another test. I am trustworthy in terms of governance and I am going to live up to it. I look forward to giving every bit of myself to the responsibility,” she said.