'Whatever was done was a sacred duty': Kiran Bedi after being removed as Puducherry L-G

17-02-2021

Kiran Bedi, who was removed as Puducherry Lieutenant Governor on Tuesday, thanked the Central government for a �lifetime experience� in serving the Union territory and said that whatever was done was a sacred duty. Bedi, a former IPS officer, also said that the 'Team Raj Nivas' diligently worked to serve the larger public interest during her tenure. �I thank Govt of India for a lifetime experience in serving Puducherry as its Lt Governor. I also thank all who worked with me closely. I can say with deep sense of satisfaction that during this tenure 'Team Raj Nivas' diligently worked to serve larger public interest,� she said. "Whatever was done, was a sacred duty, fulfilling my constitutional and moral responsibilities. Puducherry has a very bright future. It�s now in the hands of the people. Wishing for a prosperous Puducherry," she further said. Tamilisai Soundararajan, the Governor of Telangana, has been given additional charge as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry till a permanent replacement will be announced. �Kiran Bedi ceases to hold the post of Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry,� news agency PTI quoted a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson as saying. The development in the Union territory comes amid a political crisis in the Puducherry Assembly after several Congress legislators resigned ahead of the elections due this year. Earlier this month, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, who had been at loggerheads with Bedi over several issues for long, met President Ram Nath Kovind and urged him to recall the Lt Governor for her alleged interference in the administration in the Union territory. Bedi and Narayanasamy had locked horns over a number of issues since her appointment as the Lt Governor in May 2016, with the ruling Congress accusing her of going against the decisions of the government.