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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Misuse of power, money to control election mechanism seen during Maharashtra polls: Sharad Pawar
Pune (PTI): NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday claimed the misuse of power and money to control the entire election mechanism, which was never before seen in any state assembly or national polls, was witnessed in Maharashtra.
Pawar made the statement when he visited senior activist Dr Baba Adhav, who is protesting against the alleged "misuse of EVMs" in the recent state polls in Maharashtra.
Adhav, who is in his 90s, began his three-day protest at Phule Wada, the residence of social reformer Jyotiba Phule, in the city on Thursday.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), have been alleging manipulation of EVMs in the recently held Maharashtra Assembly elections, which saw a landslide victory by the Mahayuti.
The Mahayuti, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP, won 230 out of 288 assembly seats in the November 20 polls, while the MVA managed just 46 seats.Talking to reporters, Pawar said elections were conducted recently in the country, and there is a restlessness among the people about these.
Baba Adhav's agitation represents this restlessness, he said.
He said, "There is a murmur among the people that the recent polls in Maharashtra saw 'misuse of power' and 'floods of money', which was never seen in the past. Such things are heard of in local-level polls, but taking over the entire election mechanism with the help of money and misuse of power was not seen before. However, we witnessed it in Maharashtra, and people are restless now."
He added that people were recalling late socialist ideologue Jaiprakash Narayan and felt somebody should take a step forward.
"I heard Baba Adhav has taken a lead into this issue and is agitating at Phule Wada. His protest gives hope to the people, but it is not enough. A mass revolt is necessary, as the danger of the parliamentary democracy getting destroyed looms," Pawar said.
The former Union minister said those who have reins of the country in their hands are least bothered about this.
"Despite widespread discussion over it (alleged misuse of EVMs) in the country, whenever the opposition tries to raise the issue in the Parliament, they are not allowed to speak. Opposition leaders have been seeking an opportunity to speak on these issues for six days, but their demands have not been accepted even once. It shows they want to attack parliamentary democracy," he claimed.
He said Dr Adhav's protest is a fine example of someone revolting against the issue and expressed confidence that his protest will create a ripple effect.
