Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and his ministerial colleagues continued their dharna outside the Raj Nivas for the second day Thursday protesting Lt Governor Kiran Bedi's "negative stand" towards his government' proposals awaiting her approval.
After sleeping on a pavement close to the Raj Nivas wearing black shirts Wednesday, Narayanasamy, his ministers and party MLAs stayed put at the same place through Thursday even as Bedi left for New Delhi early in the morning amid tight security by Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel.
They have been demanding that that the Lt Governor accord sanction to 39 government proposals, including a free rice scheme.
Functionaries of different wings of the ruling Congress and the DMK have also joined the protest, which came close on the heels of similar agitations by Narayanasamy's West Bengal and Delhi counterparts Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal against the Centre.
Irked by the deployment of RAF, Narayanasamy slammed Bedi and questioned the need for such high security when their protest was being held in a peaceful manner.
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"Where was the need for calling 400 RAF personnel when we are in peaceful dharna... your attempt to instill fear psychosis will never succeed. We are Puducherians," he tweeted.
Taking a potshot at Bedi, he said "we are still serving food for your RAF guests."
The RAF personnel were deployed around all the four main roads outside Raj Nivas since last night.
Opposition AIADMK Legislature Wing leader A Anbalagan criticised the chief minister for going on the dharna and said it was aimed at gaining political mileage ahead of coming Lok Sabha polls.
"This is a cheap political drama and will have no productive outcome," he told reporters here.
The AIADMK leader also took exception to Bedi leaving for Delhi.
BJP, meanwhile, staged a counter protest criticising Narayanasamy's dharna.
In Coimbatore in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Union Minister of State Pon Radhakrishnan sought to make light of the dharna, saying such occurences were common during election season.
A source in the Raj Nivas told PTI that Bedi would return on February 20 and has invited the chief minister for discussion over the issues raised by him on February 21.
Asserting that their protest would continue till the government proposals were cleared, the chief minister said, "Even if it is not possible to immediately concede all the 39 pleas, the Lt Governor can give her nod to some of the important schemes including the free rice scheme and grants."
"When people's representatives are holding agitation in support of their charter of 39 demands since Wednesday seeking approval of Lt Governor, it is amusing indeed that Bedi had left for Chennai enroute Delhi," PWD Minister A Namassivayam told PTI.
"This shows that she does not respect the popular government. This is the height of her vanity."
On the helmet rule, Namassivayam said the government had asked the police not to be very stern against those not using helmets while driving two wheelers as awareness needs to be raised at least for a month before making the wearing of helmets compulsory.
He, however, clarified that they were not against the helmet rule as the Supreme court's directive to implement the rule should be complied with by all.
Meanwhile, barricades were erected around the Lt Governor's office to keep agitators at bay as a section of volunteers of different political parties raised slogans against the deployment of the RAF around Raj Nivas and at various vantage points.
Narayanasamy had led an agitation in front of the Parliament on January 4, demanding that the Centre sanction statehood for Puducherry and recall Bedi, a former IPS officer.
The Lt Governor and the government headed by Narayanasamy had been at loggerheads over various issues ever since Bedi assumed office in May 2016.
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