Minister's son abuses officials for not following his diktat

His son Ganesh Naik allegedly barged into the Chamber of the Director of Public Libraries in Visvesvaraya Towers on Friday and abused the top officials for not following his orders. He was angry because the officials had allegedly failed to collect for him some ‘fee’ from a contractor. Ganesh was said to be accompanied by the minister’s personal assistant.

The director was not in his chamber when Ganesh visited the office. So, Ganesh summoned other officials, including the chief librarian and the chief accounts officer, and shouted at them. Belamagi, known for his soft-spoken and suave nature, had to cut a sorry figure because of the incident.

“I am in Athani in Belgaum district now to take part in a public function. I am not aware of the incident. I will take appropriate action if the incident is true,” he said. Efforts by this paper to contact Ganesh went in vain.

Second incident

This is the second incident in less than a month that has embarrassed the minister. His another son, Vasanth Naik, had allegedly assaulted a KSRTC bus driver in Gulbarga in a road rage incident last month. Many other ministers, including Chief Minister Yeddyurappa, have also faced a similar situation in the recent past.

Yeddyurappa has been under attack from the Opposition parties for the alleged dubious financial transactions of his sons Vijeyendra and Raghavendra. Recently, the Opposition parties accused a trust run by the chief minister’s sons of receiving a Rs 11-crore bribe from a company for awarding an irrigation contract.

Serious charges

There are many other such serious charges against them. Former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu also had a bitter experience with his son, Katta Jagadish.

Senior Katta even lost his ministership for the alleged misdeeds of his son. Though both Kattas have been charged with receiving a Rs 84-crore bribe from an IT firm for setting up an SEZ and cheating farmers of their land, it was Katta’s son, who according to sources, took lead in the alleged underhand dealing.

Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Gowda was involved in a row in a restaurant a few years ago, and the JD(S) leader had a tough time defending Nikhil.