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Shocked at Bedi’s conditional nod to Bill, Stalin demands statehood for Puducherry
Expressing shock at Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi granting conditional assent to the Appropriation Bill, DMK working president MK Stalin on Sunday said the union territory should immediately be granted the status of a state.
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Chennai
Stalin also said that it was time the Centre realised that it was imperative to grant the status of statehood to Puducherry to uphold the federal principles of the Constitution and prevent the excesses of the Lieutenant Governor.
Accusing the former IPS officer of undermining the democratically elected Assembly by delaying the passage of the finance bill merely to give entry to the three nominated MLAs belonging to the BJP, Stalin said that it was startling to see the Lieutenant Governor acting as a “super chief minister” and usurping the powers of Puducherry government.
Opining that the unanimous resolution adopted by the Assembly to upgrade the Union Territory into a state reflects the collective opinion of the people, Stalin referred to a dozen similar resolutions vainly adopted by the Assembly there and said the LG, who has been claiming to strive for the welfare of the people of Puducherry and the BJP-led Centre were deliberately delaying the approval of the finance bill to advance the petty political interests of the saffron party.
Recalling the recent order of the Supreme Court, which categorically stated that the LG of New Delhi should act only on the advice of the government elected by the people, the DMK working president said the laws of Puducherry clearly state that the Lt Governor here does not even have the powers of the Lt Governor of New Delhi who has a special status. Remarking that it does not bode well for the Lt Governor of Puducherry to insult the judgment of Constitution bench of the apex court, Stalin asked the Union Home Ministry to advise the Lieutenant Governor not to encroach the powers of a democratically elected chief minister till the Union Territory is granted the status of a state.
NR Cong not part of delegation
Legislators from Puducherry, without NR Congress members, on Sunday left for New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh to press for conferring full statehood status for Puducherry.
It may be noted that the members while participating in the budget session of the territorial Assembly suggested that the government should take steps to get statehood for Puducherry.
Following this, Chief Minister V Narayanasamy agreed to take all the legislators to New Delhi to press the issue with the Centre. Accordingly, Narayanasamy, Ministers and Congress legislators already left for New Delhi, Speaker V Vaithilingam, DMK and AIADMK legislators left here for the National Capital on Sunday. However, though, promised to join the delegation, the NR Congress members back tracked and did not join the team presumably due to the cordial relationship with the BJP.
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