Elected CM on the road, poll loser ruling Puducherry: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday termed it a "travesty of democracy" that an elected Chief Minister was sitting on the road while a person who was defeated in the Delhi elections is ruling Puducherry as Lt. Governor.

Here to meet his Puducherry counterpart V. Narayanasamy, who has been protesting for the past six days against Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi's alleged interference in the government's functioning and stalling implementation of welfare schemes, Kejriwal said Narayanasamy is the people's elected representative, while Bedi is merely a Lt. Governor appointed by the BJP-led Central government.

Referring to Bedi's defeat in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, he said that a person who was defeated by the people is ruling the people and a person elected by the people is sitting in protest outside her residence.

"This is travesty of democracy," Kejriwal said, adding that it was not about his Aam Admi Party (AAP) and Narayansamy's Congress but he and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia were there to express solidarity with the Puducherry Chief Minister.

"It is a shocking sight to see the Chief Minister, Ministers, and legislators sitting on the road," he added.

Narayansamy said that Delhi and Puducherry, the two Union Territories with legislatures, were both "suffering due to the high-handedness" of the Central government.

Full statehood for both Union Territories is the only solution, he added.

He also said that he would continue the protest till his demands were met.

In a tweet, Kejriwal said that he had met the Puducherry CM "to express solidarity with the people of Puducherry" and support Narayansamy's fight "against dictatorship of Puducherry's LG"

He called Union Territory status to Delhi and Puducherry "an injustice to their people".

"We will fight together for full statehood," said Kejriwal, who had in June last year sat on a similar protest against Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal inside the Raj Niwas along with Sisodia and two other Ministers.

"People elect state governments to look into their affairs. But PMO (Prime Minister's Office) tries to make them defunct through LG. This is the only achievement of Modiji in last five years," Sisodia tweeted.

--IANS

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