BSY now reinstates Bellary officers

CM, Reddys yet to come clean on compromise

Seemingly cornered by the Reddy brothers during the hard bargain preceding a settlement, Yeddyurappa on Tuesday bent over backwards, reinstating four Bellary district officials who were shifted out a fortnight ago at the height of the Reddy rebellion.

Consequently, the Reddys will continue working with IAS officer B Shivappa, IPS officer Seemanth Kumar Singh and Deputy Conservator of Forests S Muthaiah.

The transfer orders were issued around 10 am, while just an hour before that Yeddyurappa publicly expressed his helplessness to stop the largescale looting of the State’s forest and mineral wealth.

The CM had made a similar public statement in Shimoga on October 22 before the party plunged into crisis.

Neither Yeddyurappa nor the Reddys have come clean on the compromise worked out in Delhi. But a “deal” seems to have been struck.

Senior IAS officer V P Baligar was shunted out as the CM’s Principal Secretary on November 6 and Shobha Karandlaje had to quit the cabinet on Monday in accordance with the demands of the rebels.

That’s not all. IAS officer N V Prasad, transferred in a fit of rage by Yeddyurappa following complaints from the flood-affected victims, was reinstated as Gadag DC, on Tuesday. Prasad’s replacement C Shika has been moved back as CEO, Dharwad Zilla Panchayat.

On October 28, when the Reddys’ rebellion came out in the open, Yeddyurappa effected major transfers by shunting out all top officials in Bellary district. In doing so, he sent out the signal that he was in command. He defended the decision, saying it was done in the interest of good governance. However, political compulsions have made him eat his own words.

Sources said Yeddyurappa had told Janardhana Reddy on Monday that reinstating the officers would be done after the first meeting of the core committee. 

The CM has, however, retained IAS officer Madan Gopal as Health and Family Welfare Secretary. This is probably because Health Minister Sriramulu raised objections against the posting. Meanwhile, Hasha Gupta and D C Rajappa, earlier posted as DC and SP of Bellary, respectively, have both been transferred to Shimoga, the CM’s home district.

Reacting to the transfers, Minister Karunarakara Reddy said in Bellary that “it was a routine process”, while Janardhana Reddy termed it as “part of the sequence” of discussions with the party’s central leadership.