Bengaluru: Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has cleared the appointment of four more legislators as chairmen of boards and corporations in the state but has withheld the appointment of Chickaballapur MLA, Dr Sudhakar, as chairman of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board.
Dr Sudhakar has reportedly paid the price for speaking out not only against the JD(S) but also Mr Kumaraswamy and his brother, Minister H D Revanna.
The names cleared on Wednesday include those of Mr S T Somashekhar as BDA chairman, Mr N A Harris as BMTC chairman, Mr K N Subba Reddy as Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation chairman and Mr Abbayya Prasad as chairman of the Dr Babu Jagajivanram Leather Industries Development Corportation.
Speaking to reporters here, Mr Kumaraswamy claimed there was no confusion in clearing the list of appointees to the boards and corporations and blamed the delay in making some appointments on "technical issues."
Going by sources, Dr Sudhakar has not only upset the JD(S) leaders, but also embarrassed the Congress following the protest by his supporters before the KPCC office. Although advised by former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to be patient, he went public with his grouses and reports of his alleged meeting with BJP leaders to negotiate a possible ticket from Chickaballapur for the coming Lok Sabha poll, did not win him any brownie points either, they reveal.
But the technical hitch the Chief Minister referred to is reportedly a Supreme Court order prohibiting the KSPCB chairman's post going to a political appointee and state government rules, which specify that the chairman should not be a legislator, but a graduate or postgraduate in environment science or any engineering discipline. Dr Sudhakar does not qualify on both counts, sources point out.
