Kiran Bedi expressed regret, put issue to rest: Rajnath Singh to opposition
New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Thursday appealed to the opposition, particularly the DMK, to put to rest the controversy over a tweet by Puducherry LG Kiran Bedi, saying she has deleted it and expressed deep regret.
Singh's comments came after DMK leader T R Baalu raised the issue for the second consecutive day in Lok Sabha and said the matter has triggered outrage in Tamil Nadu as it was insulting to Tamil society and state politicians.
The defence minister said Bedi has already deleted the tweet and issued a statement expressing deep regret.
Singh said when the matter was raised in Parliament by Baalu, the Ministry of Home Affairs took notice of it and took necessary action in this regard.
Singh said she has expressed deep regret by saying, "What was written was a people perspective shared in my personal capacity, as it came at a time when people were hugely suffering for water in Chennai. However, I admit it was avoidable. And I should not have shared it in public in this manner and I too realised it."
"I have therefore deleted my sharing. I have the highest regards and warmth for the people of Tamil Nadu, like I have for the people of Puducherry," Singh quoted Bedi's statement.
The defence minister said in view of the LG's statement, he would like to request members of the House to put the issue to rest.
Earlier, raising the issue during Zero Hour, Baalu said the LG's comments on Twitter were without any provocation and generated a strong reaction in Tamil Nadu.
In her now deleted tweet, Bedi on Sunday blamed the water crisis in Tamil Nadu on "poor governance, corrupt politics, indifferent bureaucracy with highly selfish and cowardly attitude of the people".
DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran thanked Singh for his reply on the issue of LG Bedi's "hurtful comments" against the Tamil people.
Singh has said that "Since she has apologised and assured that such incidents will not occur again let us leave it at that.
"I hope that henceforth the government adopts the same attitude in dealing with matters of dissent and voices of opposition as well," Maran said in the House.
He also posted his comments on Twitter.
After Singh's statement, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury demanded the House should adopt a resolution condemning Bedi for allegedly humiliating the people of Tamil Nadu.
Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM said that a constitutional head cannot have a personal opinion. However, Speaker Om Birla moved to the next subject. PTI ACB DV
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Assembly polls: Rs 650 crore worth illicit cash, liquor seized; nearly half from West Bengal
New Delhi (PTI): Enforcement authorities across the four poll-going states and Puducherry have seized over Rs 650 crore worth of illicit cash, drugs and liquor meant to allure voters, the Election Commission said on Sunday.
According to data shared by the poll authority, Rs 319 crore of illicit cash, drugs, liquor and valuable metals have been seized from West Bengal, followed by Rs 170 crore in Tamil Nadu.
Over 5,173 flying squads have been deployed to ensure that the complaints are attended to within 100 minutes.
Besides this, over 5,200 static surveillance teams (SSTs) have also been deployed for setting up surprise nakas (broadly, barricades) at different locations, the poll authority said.
While Kerala, Assam and Puducherry go to the polls on April 9, voting in West Bengal will be in two phases on April 23 and 29. Tamil Nadu will have assembly polls in a single phase on April 23.
Assembly bypolls will also be held in eight seats across six states on April 9 and 23.
The data, EC said, has been collated from the Electronic Seizure Management System.
While assembly elections and by-elections were announced on March 15, the Electronic Seizure Management System (ESMS) was activated on February 26.
