In a late evening development on Friday, Rangayana director B V Rajaram was relieved of his duties with immediate effect. K R Ramakrishna, commissioner for Kannada and Culture department has been appointed in place of Rajaram.

The development came as a shock to the artistes of the repertory whose protest against the transfer of 12 of their colleagues to two different repertories - Dharwad and Shimoga - entered second day on Friday. Enraged, the artistes staged a flash stir along with Rajaram in front of the office of deputy commissioner. They condemned the action against Rajaram for taking their side in opposing the transfers. A memorandum was submitted to Governor H R Bhardwaj through deputy commissioner Ramegowda.

Rajaram told Deccan Herald that he would launch a struggle against the department’s decision. He said that he had been targeted for raising voice for the sake of artistes.

Rajaram was appointed as Rangayana director on September 11, 2011. However, he has been shown the exit after one-and-a-half years in office, against the four-year term of the director.

Rajaram was among the delegation of artistes who had pressed for action against K R Ramakrishna and Deputy Director of Rangayana, Nirmala Matapathi, for acting with ulterior motives in transferring the artistes, ignoring the election code of conduct.

The transferred artistes of Rangayana decided to move the High Court during a meeting held at the repertory.

It was also decided to form a coordination committee of litterateurs and artistes and invite Rangayana officers for talks.