Why is Dr. Kiran Bedi suddenly not the LG of Puducherry? – Everything you need to know
Dr. Kiran Bedi is an ex-IPS officer. She was made the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Puducherry in 2016.
On Tuesday night (February 16th, 2021) , in a surprise move, Rashtrapati Bhavan sent a directive (an order) that she will cease to hold the post of LG. The current governor of Telangana, Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan, has been requested to take additional charge of the post until arrangements can be made and a permanent LG appointed.
Though Puducherry is a Union Territory (UT), it does have its elections and has a Chief Minister. The only other Union Territory to have this arrangement is the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.
Let us Understand
The Constitutional Foundation
Let us start with the most basic thing – What does the Constitution say about the roles and responsibilities of each when a Union Territory has both – an elected government and a LG?
- Article 239 of Indian Constitution deals with the administration of a Union Territory.
- Article 239A deals with the administration of Puducherry.
- Article 239AA deals with the administration of Delhi.
Article 239A states:
“Creation of local Legislatures or Council of Ministers or both for certain Union Territories”
Parliament may by law create for the Union territory of Pondicherry (aka Pudducherry) –
(a) a body, whether elected or partly nominated and partly elected, to function as a Legislature for the Union territory, or
(b) a Council of Ministers, or both with such constitution, powers and functions, in each case, as may be specified in the law.
Puducherry has both – a legislature and a council of ministers.
The Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, created a legislative assembly with a council of ministers for Puducherry.
Section 44 of the Act says that the Council of Ministers headed by a Chief Minister will “aid and advise the Administrator in the exercise of his functions in relation to matters with respect to which the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory has power to make laws”.
So, what all can the LG do, exactly?
The role, rights, and responsibilities of the LG are:
- To administer (run the day to day working of) the state as per the instructions of the President.
- When there is a dispute between the elected government and the LG, the LG will refer the matter to the President and act as per the advice of the president. In an emergency, the LG can act as per their own wisdom.
- When the legislative assembly passes a Bill, it comes to the LG for approval. The LG of a UT can withhold his/her approval OR send it back to the government for reconsideration (this means, the LG is asking the government to think some more about the Bill and perhaps make changes).
- In Puducherry, the council of ministers can make laws on all subjects. In Delhi, there are some subjects which are directly under the control of the LG.
- During President’s Rule, the LG is the head of the government and can work with advisors who act like the Council of ministers.
What is the issue?
All our stories begin long before the point from which we start telling them.
The action happened on Tuesday, but the story spans almost 5 years – from May 2016!
The CM-LG Tug of War
The Chief Minister of Puducherry, Sri V Narayanasamy, thought that Dr. Kiran Bedi was running a parallel government of her own, without co-operating with him.
The Political Parties Angle
Dr. Bedi is an appointee of the Central government, which is headed by a political party called the Bharatiya Janta Party. The state government was formed by the Indian National Congress – the main opposition party in the country.
Almost immediately after taking office in mid-2016, differences began to appear between the two.
The matter was taken to the Madras High Court in 2017 by a Congress MLA. The Court ruled in April 2019 that the LG cannot run a parallel government and the primary responsibility of day-to-day governance is with the state government.
However, this order was set aside in March 2020. The judges observed that the earlier judgement was influenced by the conditions in the UT of Delhi, but those same conditions may not apply to Puducherry. However, they asked the central government to act within the overall spirit of the Constitution.
Laws to Protect and other interventions
These are the main actions of Dr. Kiran Bedi that may have led to some dissonance:
- The Road Safety measures – The LG insisted on wearing of helmets and came on the roads herself to ensure that the rules are followed. She created awareness videos, posted on her Twitter, and worked alongside the police to ensure that strict action is taken against violators. The CM was not in favour of such strict implementation of the law.
- The LG did not allow the government to distribute saris and rice to the people. She insisted that the money should be directly transferred to the bank accounts of the people, because of the government’s push for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
- The government declared compensation to fishermen when there was a ban on fishing for one month and the fishermen suffered losses. This file was delayed by the LG. The fishermen protested against this delay. The file was subsequently cleared and the compensation was paid.
- The Chief Minister of Puducherry travelled to the Rashtrapati Bhavan on February 10th and made his case. He also met other central ministers during this visit.
- As recently as February 12th, the LG ordered an enquiry into the distribution of funds under the CM’s Relief Fund. On the same day, the CM held a detailed press conference and presented his side of the story to the press.
But, oh! The issues within the government too!
This is a really interesting angle of the story. The Puducherry legislature has 33 seats. Because of resignations and other events, the current legislature has only 28 active MLAs.
On Tuesday, Mr. A John Kumar of the Congress resigned from his position. Now, there are exactly 14 MLAs that support the government and 14 in opposition. 5 Congress MLAs have resigned in the recent past.
Basically, with this crucial resignation, the Puducherry government has lost majority in the legislature. The CM, however, insists that he enjoys majority in the house and is capable of continuing the government.
This is important because, in a UT, if the ruling party does not have majority, the territory comes directly under the rule of the LG. If there was a No-Confidence Motion in the Assembly on Wednesday (a No-Confidence Motion means that the government has to prove its majority in the House through a vote of the MLAs), and IF the ruling Congress party and its allies had not been able to prove their majority, the UT might have gone under the LG’s direct rule.
The Farewell Note of Dr. Kiran Bedi
On Tuesday evening, Dr. Bedi was overseeing the status of Corona vaccination drive in Puducherry.
On Wednesday morning, she posted a farewell note, thanking Team Raj Nivas for their excellent work, and the Government of India for the opportunity to serve in Puducherry. She ended that note with a wish for a Prosperous Puducherry.
Question for you: In your view, what were the most important events in this four-years-long story? Why?
Note: All images in this article are from the Twitter of Dr. Kiran Bedi.