CM justifies walkout during 'At Home'; not private event: Bedi

Chief Minister of Puducherry V Narayanasamy on Monday hit out at Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi for "breaching conventions and customs" while holding the 'At Home' reception at Raj Nivas on Republic Day, while Bedi said it was not a private event but one of national sanctity.

Talking to reporters here, the Chief Minister said he and his cabinet colleagues, Speaker and Member of Parliament responded to the invitation for the reception as "it is our democratic duty to attend."
He further said, "We, however, walked out of the venue after attending the function for a few minutes as we could not brook the violation of conventions by the Lieutenant Governor in holding the reception."
Narayanasamy said, "Although we are happy that two persons Manoj Das and V K Munusamy from Puducherry had been selected for Padma awards by the Centre, this should have been informed to the territorial Ministry that the two awardees would be honoured by the Lieutenant Governor at the reception."
Also, he questioned holding of cultural programmes presented by teams from Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh at the reception as such "events normally do not take place during a reception of this kind."
Besides, the Chief Minister charged the Lieutenant Governor with "going her own way without keeping the government informed of her programmes."
She said, "As was suggested by the President of India, the 'At Home' reception was made more diverse and inclusive with an element of celebration and recognition."