Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi has once again landed in controversy. This time, it is not over her actions against the Congress government that rules Puducherry, but for her remarks against politicians and the people of Tamil Nadu. A tweet by Bedi blaming the government, bureaucracy and the people for the water crisis in Chennai has evoked strong reactions from both the ruling AIADMK and opposition DMK in Tamil Nadu.
On Sunday, Bedi tweeted, “A Question with Possible Answers: India’s 6th largest city #Chennai has become d first city in d country to run dry. The same city was in floods due to copious rains just 4 years back. Where lies the problem? Ans: Poor Governance,Corrupt Politics, Indifferent Bureaucracy+”.
Interestingly, a few minutes later, Bedi tweeted a near-identical version of the same post in Hindi. However, there was an addition: after indifferent bureaucracy, Bedi also holds as responsible “selfish and cowardly/weak people”.
Bedi’s comments came under attack on social media immediately after she tweeted. However, undeterred by the critical comments, Bedi continued to maintain that her statement was right.
On Monday, as the Tamil Nadu Assembly met after a brief weekend holiday, the DMK was up in arms, asking the state government and the ruling party members to condemn the comments of Bedi, who is in no way connected to the people of the state.
“I raised the issue. Law Minister C. Ve Shanmugam also agreed to my comments. But it was later expunged,” said Stalin, as the DMK walked out of the Assembly as Speaker P. Dhanapal did not allow the DMK to talk further about Bedi’s comments. “She should apologise for her comments. It is highly condemnable for a Lt governor to speak about politicians of other states,” Stalin said.
Later in the evening on Monday, the ruling AIADMK replied to Bedi through their spokesperson B. Valarmathi. In a statement released after the heated arguments inside the Assembly, Valarmathi said, “Bedi doesn’t know the decency to say what and when. Bedi should fight to get the share of Cauvery water from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and confine herself to her allotted duty.”
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Valarmathi further added that Bedi has made shocking and painful comments without realising the dignity of the office she is holding.
With strong reactions from both the DMK and the AIADMK, Bedi clarified that she tweeted only to echo the feelings of the people, adding Stalin had twisted her words to suggest that she had shamed the people of the state. In a statement reacting to the threats of DMK of agitation, Bedi explained that “the whole world knows that the people of Chennai are suffering for want of water. We all have a responsibility. The political leadership, the public officials and the people themselves must harvest and save as the suffering is common.”