Maneka and Bedi clash over Puducherry stray dog drive

NEW DELHI: A public spat has erupted between Puducherry lieutenant governor Kiran Bedi and Union minister Maneka Gandhi over a drive by the Union Territory administration

NEW DELHI: A public spat has erupted between Puducherry lieutenant governor Kiran Bedi and Union minister Maneka Gandhi over a drive by the Union Territory administration against stray dogs, blamed for biting people and even affecting the tourism industry.

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Bedi accused the women and child development minister of “interfering” in the UT administration by calling up senior officials “persistently”, “shouting” at them and instructing to stop the drive against dogs.

Gandhi hit back, saying that the LG has a “history of attacking everybody” to ensure her “own popularity”.

“She is a strong animal lover but she needs to appreciate human life also,” Bedi told HT. She has reasons to justify the drive against stray dogs: daily cases of dog bites; scared morning walkers; accidents due to dogs chasing two-wheelers; and dog menace on the beach affecting tourism. There are an estimated 32,000 stray dogs in Puducherry.

“We put these dogs in safe pounds. It’s not cruelty to animals but anybody touches the dogs and she calls. The chief secretary is getting calls one after another. Municipal commissioners have written how she calls them directly. We need a balance — streets for people and pounds for dogs.” Bedi and Gandhi exchanged emails — one citing human safety and the other defending animal rights. Neither was convinced. Gandhi has taken the fight to the next level now.

She told HT: “The LG should not be running the government and appointing corrupt, non-accredited business people as so-called NGOs. It’s not I who have called up; the entire administration of Puducherry has complained that she is running the government by tweeting against bureaucrats. They have even complained to the home minister.”

“Over the years, everything she has said has turned out to be untrue. The only reason she is attacking me is because she took money from my ministry last year for her NGOs, both of which were served notice last month for not giving reports on how the money was spent,” said Gandhi.

The two NGOs -- India Vision Foundation and Navjyoti India Foundation-- founded by Bedi were given funds under the WCD ministry’s STEP (Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women) scheme. The NGOs, however, sent copies of relevant documents to HT to rebut the allegations.

“I cannot say the two (drive against dogs and move against NGOs) are linked but what else explains it?” said Bedi.