A day after his verbal spat with the Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi at a public function in the Union Territory, AIADMK MLA A Anbalagan has filed a complaint with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly stating that his rights as a member have been violated.
On Tuesday, the Oupalam MLA was speaking at an event organised by the Government of Puducherry to declare the region as Open Defecation Free (ODF) when his speech was cut short by the LG. Seeking action on the Lieutenant Governor, the MLA says he was interrupted and asked to stop his speech when he was speaking about how people in his constituency end up dumping garbage in an open canal owing to the lack of garbage bins in the area.
However, soon after the fracas, LG Kiran Bedi had tweeted her version of the event, alleging that the MLA had spoken beyond the time allotted to him and so, they had to switch off his microphone when he showed no signs of stopping his speech. She said that the event was to present awards to people and that the MLA was taking up the time allotted for it.
Elaborating on what he spoke in his complaint letter, the MLA wrote, “We are about to announce Puducherry as an open defecation free state. The duty to create the infrastructure for that lies with the government. There are still homes of poor and underprivileged classes that don’t have a private toilet. Even in my constituency of Oupalam, thousands of open toilet homes remain. It has been over two years since they have requested for toilets to be built but the government has not given them any financial aid.”
The MLA claims that he was ordered around “like those who work for the LG” and asked to stop midway. He alleges that after the LG ordered the sound technician to cut the audio to microphone, he was asked to leave the venue.
“I said I am a representative of the people, why should I leave? I said, if you want, you leave. After that, the LG kept trying to prevent me from sitting in my chair. The people at the event were watching in shock,” he states in his letter.
Claiming that his rights as an MLA were violated, he says, “In addition to stopping me from speaking since I am an AIADMK MLA, using the power of the LG’s office to evict me from the event is tantamount to denying me my rights. This is a planned attempt by the LG to humiliate me.”
The MLA has sought action from the Speaker under rules of the Assembly.