JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday charged that the transfer of IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri as Hassan DC was an instance of "high handedness" on part of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Cabinet colleague A Manju.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Gowda said that Manju, who is also the Hassan district-in-charge minister, had demanded Sindhuri's transfer as she had tried to curtail financial irregularities and misappropriation of funds in the Mahamastakabhisheka works at Shravanabelagola in the district.
He said that he would write to President Ram Nath Kovind and bring to his notice, the bad precedence set by the government. Gowda said that he would boycott the inaugural ceremony of Mahamastakabhisheka on February 7.
"I will not share the dais with this chief minister now or in future. This is one of the worst governments I have seen," he said.
"It is a shame that the minister (Manju) wanted a percentage even in civil works worth crores of rupees taken up as part of this holy event. Sindhuri's predecessor too was met with a similar treatment. If officers don't fall in line, they are shunted out in two or three months. Can you call this a government?" he said.
He accused that Manju, expecting illegal gratification, had ensured that the scaffolding and road construction works were transferred to Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL) from Public Works Department (PWD).
Gowda also released a copy of the letter he had written to Siddaramaiah in August 2017 highlighting the interference of Manju in the Mahamastakabhisheka works.
Recalling the fall of scaffolding to the Gomateshwara statue during the previous Mahamastakabhisheka, Gowda said that Sindhuri had taken all precautions
to ensure that there were
no untoward incidents this year. Gowda said that Sindhuri was transferred, despite his appeal to Chief Secretary Ratna Prabha. Manju was not available for comments despite repeated attempts.
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