Did Siddaramaiah mislead Karnataka Legislative Assembly on his links with Marigowda?
Mysuru: Did Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah mislead the Legislative Assembly when he said that local Congress leader Marigowda was not his close associate? Sources in the Mysuru Congress said that after Mr Siddaramaiah joined the Congress about a decade ago, Marigowda, a fellow Kuruba, followed him into the party. He is now in the eye of a controversy after he reportedly humiliated Mysuru deputy commissioner C. Shikha in public following a row over a land issue.
Sources said Marigowda wields tremendous power to the extent that he influenced the ticket distribution in the recent Zilla Panchayat elections and controls affairs in Chamundeshwari constituency which the CM had represented earlier. He has gone underground after the police filed a case against him and is one of the 3-4 close associates of Mr Siddaramaiah.
According to sources, the ties between Marigowda and the CM date back to 25 years. He was in the JD(S) along with Siddaramaiah for 20 years and joined the Congress when his mentor moved to the party in 2006. He was President of the Mysuru ZP, when Siddaramaiah was Deputy CM.
He reportedly takes care of works related to transfers and tenders and is considered a close associate of the CM. A member of the KPCC, Marigowda is also an aspirant for the Assembly ticket in the next elections in 2018. Sources said he makes it a point to accompany the CM at every step from his arrival in Mysuru till his departure. Questions are now being raised over the security of women IAS officers in Mysuru, the CM’s hometown.
After the incident in which IAS officer Ms Rashmi Mahesh was assaulted in public, now a close confident of the CM has allegedly threatened another officer in what is considered a land encroachment case. Marigowda reportedly pressurised Ms Shikha to relieve Mysuru tahsildar Naveen Joseph, who was investigating a land encroachment case, of his duties. Naveen Joseph was promoted and transferred as ADC here and has now been taken off the task.
‘Siddu has become arrogant’
Former minister V. Srinivasprasad who was dropped from the Cabinet recently, condemned the behaviour of Marigowda and said, “Ms Shikha is an honest officer, who enjoys public trust and admiration. CM Siddaramaiah, should have instilled confidence in her, instead he claims Marigowda is not his close associate. When I brought up the earlier assault on former ATI DG, Ms Rashmi Mahesh a few months ago, he ignored it. All these indicate that he has become arrogant. We cannot expect anything from such people. Why are the cops keeping quiet? Marigowda is not just close to the CM, he is a close advisor,” he added.
