Bengaluru: Making an issue of the transfer of Hassan Deputy Commissioner, Rohini Sindhuri , Janata Dal(S) supremo, H D Deve Gowda has decided not to share the dais with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during the Mahamasthabhisheka of Bahubali at the Jain centre of Shravanabelagola on February 7 as a mark of protest.
As the event will be held in the presence of President Ramnath Kovind and PM Narendra Modi, Mr Gowda will write to the former, explaining why he was keeping away.
Squarely blaming Mr Siddaramaiah and Hassan in-charge Minister, A Manju for the DC's transfer, Mr Gowda claimed here on Tuesday that she was removed because she was trying to stop the misappropriation of funds released for the event.
“This is the worst government I have seen. Now officers are being transferred for not allowing Ministers to make money. I cannot share the dais with Siddaramaiah,'' he said disgustedly.
Releasing documents to back his charge, Mr Gowda said although the cabinet had given the PWD the responsibility of erecting a platform near Bahubali's statue and building 15 temporary townships near Shravanabelagola at a cost of Rs 12 crore and Rs 75 crore respectively, the work was in the process of being transferred to the Karnataka Road Development Company Limited on instructions from Mr Manju, when Ms Sindhuri objected. "She argued that the platform had to be strong as it would carry a lot of weight and she would be responsible for any accident that took place, recalling that a few years ago over 80 people were injured when it gave way. As she said this at a meeting chaired by the CM, it angered Mr Manju,'' Mr Gowda maintained, adding that the decision to transfer the officer was taken during the CM's Janashirvad rally in Hassan district after the Minister called her a JD(S) sympathiser. “I have met that lady only once and the Minister has used our party name to get her transferred. Was this the only way he could make money?,'' the JD(S) supremo added.
As for the Mahadayi bandh, he said the JD(S) was not party to it. "How will it solve the problem?" he asked.
Besides providing evidence of alleged misappropriation of Central funds released for the Mahamasthabhisheka of Bahubali, Mr Deve Gowda is likely to recall in his letter that his name was omitted from the list of former CMs in President Kovind's address to the legislature on the occasion of Vidhana Soudha's diamond jubilee
