CM appoints 8 Congress legislators including Abdul Jabbar, Ivan D'Souza as parliamentary secretaries
Bengaluru, Jan 6: Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Sunday appointed 14 Congress MLAs as heads to boards and corporations after much delay.
He has also issued orders appointing eight Congress legislators as parliamentary secretaries.
However, Kumaraswamy has not made any appointments to the posts of deputy chairman of the planning commission, special representative in Delhi and political secretary to the chief minister, to which the Congress had suggested names of its legislators.
Out of the 19 boards and corporations for which the Congress had recommended its MLAs for posts of chairman, the chief minister Sunday issued orders of appointment for 14 of them.
According to coalition arrangement, both parties had decided to fill up posts of chairpersons to 30 boards and corporations of which 20 will be for the Congress and 10 for the ruling JD(S).
The JD(S) is yet to appoint its legislators as heads to boards and corporations and remaining one post of parliamentary secretary.
The MLAs appointed as head of boards and corporations include, B K Sangameshwar (Karnataka Land Army Corporation), B A Basavaraj (Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited), Munirathna (Karnataka Skill Development Corporation), Shivaram Hebbar (North West Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation), Lakshmi Hebbalkar (Mysore Minerals Ltd).
However, head posts for few boards and corporations have not been filled as recommended by the Congress, including Dr K Sudhakar for the State Pollution Control Board and Venkataramanaiah for the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL).
JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy had clarified that Sudhakar's appointment was opposed as the Supreme Court guidelines had specified a certain qualification for the post.
Congress MLA Venkataramanaiah's appointment to KRDCL is said to have been opposed by Gowda's son and PWD Minister Revanna, stating that it came under his department.
The Congress had forwarded its list of 19 legislators for posts of chairman of boards and corporations to the chief minister soon after the cabinet rejig on December 22, but according to sources, the move had irked the JD(S) leadership as they were allegedly not consulted.
The Congress recommending some of its legislators as heads to boards and corporations that come under departments controlled by JD(S) ministers, had angered the regional party, leading to Kumaraswamy delaying the appointment.
JD(S) leaders and Kumaraswamy were also angered by the grand old party's move to appoint its MLA V Muniyappa as political secretary to the chief minister.
There were also reports that Congress MLAs had set a deadline of Monday evening, miffed over the delay in appointments to boards and corporations, failing which they had planned to meet on Tuesday to decide on the further course of action.
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RG Kar crime anniversary: One held for 'assaulting' police constable during protest
Kolkata (PTI): Sleuths of the Kolkata Police on Wednesday arrested a person from here for allegedly being involved in assaulting the guard of an IPS officer during 'Nabanna Abhiyan', a march to the West Bengal secretariat, last week, an officer said.
The person, identified as Chandan Gupta, a resident of Jagatdal in North 24 Parganas district, was arrested from Bow Bazar area in central Kolkata this morning, he said.
"The person has been booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for attempting to kill constable Prasanta Poddar, who is a guard of DC SSD Bidisha Kalita Dasgupta. He is being questioned," the officer said.
Chaos and violent agitation dominated the streets of Kolkata and adjacent Howrah on August 9, a day that marked the completion of one year of the rape and murder of the doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
"The search for other accused is underway," he said.
Seven FIRs were filed against several individuals, including BJP MLAs Ashok Dinda, Agnimitra Paul and other leaders, for allegedly obstructing security personnel from performing their duties, assaulting them and causing damage to public properties during the march to the West Bengal secretariat on August 9.
Incidentally, the father of the deceased doctor of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital filed an FIR, accusing the police of torturing his wife during the protest.
