Puducherry MLA lashes out at Kiran Bedi for 'interfering' in speech

CPI leader R Viswanathan Wednesday condemned Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi for asking AIADMK MLA A. Anbalagan to stop his speech at a public function here, terming it as a "big insult".

Bedi should 'mend' her ways and abstain from 'interfering' in the rights and privileges of the elected members, Viswanathan, a former Puducherry minister, told reporters here.

"The switching off of the mike when Anbalagan was going ahead with his speech is a big insult and would never be brooked," he said

He also claimed that a majority of houses in villages and semi-urban areas in Puducherry was still without toilets and yet the government had declared the union territory as open defecation-free.

"Bedi is 'hoodwinking' the people by making such claims," he charged. After the function Tuesday, Bedi had accused Anbalagan of being rude and claimed she had witnessed similar 'misbehaviour' of him in the past.

The MLA, who left the venue in a huff, later, claimed he had been insulted and slammed Bedi by asking "is the Lieutenant Governor a Princess in Puducherry?"