Bengaluru: Congress workers sprinkled cow urine and performed Pooja at the State Assembly in Bengaluru on Monday. They said that they are 'purifying' Vidhana Soudha. This was reportedly done to cleanse what they are calling taint of 40 percent commission Sarkara.
Govt school teacher suspended for criticising Siddaramaiah
A teacher of a government lower primary school in Kaanubenahalli, Hosadurga taluk, Chitradurga district was suspended for Facebook posts that criticised newly sworn-in Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for his fiscal policies.
In a Facebook post, Shanthamurthy MG said: “Debt during the tenure of former chief ministers SM Krishna was Rs3,590 crore, Dharam Singh Rs15,635 crore, HD Kumaraswamy Rs3,545 crore, BS Yeddiyurappa Rs25,653 crore, DV Sadananda Gowda Rs9,464 crore, Jagadish Shettar Rs13,464 crore and Siddaramaiah Rs2,42,000 crore.”
Shanthamurthy MG's FB post |
5 poll promises issue
What the teacher said was by and large correct and with the five poll promises the debt is likely to balloon further.
The teacher added loans incurred by chief ministers from the time of Krishna to Shettar was Rs71,331 crore but it touched Rs2,42,000 crore during the Siddaramaiah’s reign. “Hence it is easy for him to announce freebies,” the post read.
Chitradurga public instruction deputy director K Ravishankar Reddy said: “Based on the Facebook post, I have directed the block education officer of Hosadurga taluk L Jayappa to suspend the teacher as he has violated the Karnataka Civil Services (Conduct) Rules – 1966.” A departmental inquiry will be conducted.
The move drew sharp reaction on Twitter. They criticised the move, saying the teacher only exercised his freedom of speech.
'Zero-Traffic’ protocol
Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah has decided to do away with zero traffic corridors for him and his convoy when he travels in Karnataka. In doing so, he has set an example to his deputy DK Shivakumar and cabinet colleagues to avoid taking the ‘privilege’ accorded to VVIPs, robbing ministership of some of its “glamour”.
In a tweet, Siddaramaiah said: “I have asked the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner to take back the 'Zero-Traffic’ protocol for my vehicular movement. I have taken the decision after seeing problems faced by the people travelling along the stretch where there are restrictions due to ‘zero-traffic’.”
CMO officials said the decision was prompted after Siddaramaiah witnessed serious traffic jams while travelling from his official residence on Race Course Road to Yelahanka to attend his grandson Dhawan Rakesh’s graduation ceremony.
“The CM was miffed that people were forced to wait in the Sun while his cavalcade made its way through the 20-km route. It created a bad impression. So he decided to do away with the privilege,” an official said.
