Pondy CM, Ministers exit Bedi's 'at home' reception in huff;

Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and his ministers left an 'at home' reception hosted by Lt Governor Kiran Bedi here on Sunday, in a huff allegedly unhappy over not being informed in advance about a programme to honour Padma award winners.

Bedi held the 'at home' reception on the lawns of Raj Nivas here on the occasion of the 71st Republic Day, which was attended by Narayanasamy, Welfare Minister M Kandasamy, Speaker V P Sivakolundhuand others.

While Kandasamy first left the venue within 10 minutes of commencement of the reception, the Chief Minister and others followed him raising eyebrows among the audience.

Sources told PTI that the Chief Minister was 'irked' by taking him and his colleagues by surprise by having a programme to honour the Padma award winners without prior information and hence left the venue after attending the reception for a few minutes.

He was also seen airing his anger to an official of Raj Nivas before leaving the venue.

Earlier, cultural teams from Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh presented dance programmes.

The Lt Governor felicitated Manoj Das from Puducherry who won the Padma Bhushan award for literature and Education.

Chief Secretary Ashwani Kumar, Secretaries, French Consul General Catherine Suard, Vice Chancellor of Pondicherry University Gurmeet Singh and legislators of the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) were among those who attended the reception.