Kiran Bedi will cease to hold the office of the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, a Rashtrapati Bhavan official said. Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has been given the additional charge of Puducherry.
Ms Bedi’s removal came hours after a fourth member of the ruling Congress resigned from the Assembly, leaving Chief Minister V Narayanasamy’s government in the minority. Shortly before she was removed, Mr Narayanasamy, who had a long-running and public feud with Ms Bedi, told NDTV that one of the MLAs who had resigned had been harassed several times by her.
The development comes hours after the Congress government in the Union Territory lost its majority with another party legislator resigning today, 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.
Ms Bedi’s removal is being widely seen as a political move by the BJP to counter the Congress’ primary campaign strategy, which focuses on allegations that Ms Bedi was scuttling Puducherry’s development at the behest of the centre.