CHENNAI: Joining the chorus against Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit for holding a meeting with government officials in Coimbatore, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy today said only elected governments can hold such interactions.
The central government is trying to "cripple" governance in opposition-ruled states using governors and Lt Governors, he told reporters.
The Puducherry chief minister is himself engaged in a bitter spat with Lt Governor Kiran Bedi over her style of functioning.
"It is not the job of a governor to invite officials and unilaterally hold a meeting and issue orders," he said, adding only an elected government can conduct such meetings.
Narayanasamy's comments come on a day when a political row erupted in Tamil Nadu over Purohit's meeting in Coimbatore with the DMK and other opposition parties claiming it amounted to "interference in the state's rights".
DMK working president M K Stalin, leaders of the Congress, CPI(M), CPI, PMK and even deposed AIADMK deputy chief T T V Dhinakaran flayed Purohit for the meeting.
The Narayanasamy-led Congress government in Puducherry has been accusing Bedi of interfering in the routine administration of the Union territory.
The latest bone of contention between both sides is the swearing-in of three nominated MLAs to the Assembly.
The chief minister had yesterday said legal remedy would be sought to establish the rights of democratically elected government in the Union territory.