A vaastu-perfect PWD house for Gowda?
The renovation of a government building in Hassan has run into a controversy after a portion of the recently constructed part was demolished, allegedly to make the structure’s vaastu suited to JD(S) leader H.D. Deve Gowda (in picture) .
The Public Works Department (PWD) started renovating the old building on R.C. Road, next to the office of the Superintendent of Police, at a cost of ₹70 lakh. It was earlier planned to be the official residence of an assistant executive engineer of the PWD. However, midway through the renovation, the department was reportedly instructed to upgrade the building to suit Mr. Gowda, who is the Hassan MP. Based on oral instructions, the department revised the building plan with a revised estimate. It is said that doors, windows and a parapet wall were removed as per the new vaastu plan at the behest of Mr. Gowda’s son H.D. Revanna, who was reportedly advised so by a vaastu expert. Mr. Gowda, who stays in a private house when he visits Hassan, is expected to move into the new building once it is ready. The former Prime Minister has earlier said he would spend more time in Hassan and that he had asked the district administration to find a suitable house for him.
PWD executive engineer N. Nagaraj said there was no official information that the building would be allotted to Mr. Gowda. “We are constructing an additional floor, which was not planned earlier,” he confirmed, but countered with, “Where is the question of alterations when the work is still going on?”
Reserved is lesser?
The byelections in Karnataka generated a great deal of fiery arguments and counter-arguments between senior political leaders during campaigning. After the elections, the younger leaders are carrying it into the cyberworld and the aggression is a notch higher, as the recent Twitter exchanges between Minister for Tourism Priyank Kharge (in picture, left) and MP for Mysuru Pratap Simha (in picture, right) suggest. The war of words began when Mr. Kharge hoped in one of his tweets that the byelection result is “a lesson in humility for certain Paper Simhas”. Mr. Simha, a journalist-turned-politician, had made several acerbic remarks in the course of the campaign and particularly uncharitable were his comments against Congress contestant Geetha Mahadeva Prasad who eventually won. A livid Mr. Simha responded to the tweet by dragging just about everything into the spat — the Minister’s “famous dad” (senior leader M. Mallikarjun Kharge), dynasty politics, and even reservation. He went so far as to suggest that the Minister’s very name is a “symbol of slavery to Nehru family”. But the most insinuating remark, perhaps, was what he had to say on reserved constituencies. Mr. Simha not only said that senior Kharge had “run away from Gurmitkal to Chitapur” when the former became a general constituency, but also that junior Kharge had “lost even in a reserved seat”.
What exactly did that comment imply? That those who contest from reserved constituencies are lesser compared with those who contest from general ones? These questions are now being hotly debated in social media groups of Dalit activists. Ironically, Mr. Simha’s remarks came on Ambedkar Jayanti day.
Fight within Congress
It is not unusual to see a ruling and an Opposition party fight over posts. In Ballari, it was a tussle for power between two factions of the ruling Congress for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the city. This is the fourth year of the five-year term. With the Congress having absolute majority with 27 seats, one would have expected the April 12 elections to be smooth and unanimous. But rivalry ensued when one group got unsolicited support from the BJP; and the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee also messed up the issue and caused much embarrassment to the party.
Both the rival groups wanted the top posts. G. Srinivas and Lakshmi who are associated with the former Minister and local strongman Diwakar Babu filed their nomination papers while Venkataramana and Umadevi from the rival group also filed their papers.
An observer despatched by the KPCC met the groups but could not get anyone to withdraw the additional candidatures. He also got a whip issued that Congress councillors should vote for Mr. Venkataramana for the Mayor’s post and Ms. Lakshmi for the Deputy Mayor’s post.
The Babu group reportedly tried to meet the observer. Not only were its members denied a meeting, they were not allowed to vote on the ground that they arrived late. Regional Commissioner of Kalaburagi Amlan Aditya Biswas later declared Mr. Venkataramana and Ms. Umadevi, both from the same faction, elected.
The Babu group accused the KPCC observer and the four legislators of betraying them. “Why was the KPCC observer sent, why was a whip issued without ensuring that it was followed? The actions were clearly aimed at embarrassing Diwakar Babu,” said his supporters Kumaraswamy and Maridevaiah.
