Mangaluru: Finally the government has decided to make appointments to the state-run boards and corporations. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters that the appointments to the boards and corporations would be done in two days.
“The appointments had to be postponed as we had intervening holidays. We will do the appointments in two days,” the Chief Minister, who was in Mangaluru to attend the inauguration of Bantawalada Buntara Bhavana on Sunday told reporters.
He dismissed the political moves by former minister Srinivas Prasad who had quit the Congress party recently. “Let him join BJP or JD (S), we are not bothered about which party he joins,” he declared.
On the Rudresh murder case and the demand made by RSS to ban Popular Front of India (PFI), Siddaramiah wondered about the activities RSS affiliates were indulging in.
Declaring that the government will celebrate Tipu Jayanthi this year too, the Chief Minister assured that steps would be taken to maintain law and order during the event. He expressed his anger against the BJP for confusing people about the steel bridge project in Bengaluru.
“The BJP had planned this project in 2010. A detailed project report too was prepared. The BJP was in power then. They never opposed it when there was a discussion in the Assembly in 2014. Now they are lying,” he added.
Protests, black flags greet Siddaramaiah
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who arrived in Udupi to lay the foundation stone for the new building of a government hospital, was greeted by protests and black flags. The government has come to an understanding with NRI businessman B.R. Shetty for the construction of the new building of the hospital in Udupi.
This move has been severely criticized by various organisations and political parties who claim it to be ‘privatization’ of government hospitals. Former MLA U.R. Sabhapathy went on a hunger strike against privatization of the hospital while CPI(M) activists displayed black flags near Udupi bus stand.
Janata Dal (Secular) workers held a procession against privatization and were arrested by the police. Police arrested BJP leader Raghupathy Bhat, MLA Sunil Kumar and MLC Kota Srinivas Poojary too, who have opposed the project.
Speaking to reporters Mr Siddaramaiah denied privatization of the hospital. “There is opposition by some due to lack of information. The problem is because people are 'extra intelligent,' here," the Chief Minister said sarcastically. “Though the government has the ability to undertake the work, Mr B.R. Shetty himself has volunteered to renovate the hospital,” he said.
