The unstoppable Poojary
The Congress appears to have shut its doors — at least the office of the Dakshina Kannada District Congress Committee (DCC) — to veteran Congressman B. Janardhana Poojary.
There is apparently a direction to seek the permission of DCC president B. Ramanath Rai or DCC acting president Ibrahim Kodijal to allow him to hold any press conference in the Congress office. Several district party leaders are unhappy with Mr. Poojary’s constant outbursts against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress government in the State. They have apparently spoken to KPCC working president Dinesh Gundu Rao, during his recent visit to Mangaluru.
Mr. Poojary, who recently held a press meet in Mangaluru Press Club, said he did not want to embarrass Mr. Rao. In the same breath, he said none of his uttering was aimed at destabilising the party, but was intended to get rid of unwanted elements from Congress.
The present party office in Mangaluru was said to have been given to the Congress on rent when Mr. Poojary was elected as MP in 1979.
However, the DCC is now building an office complex on the land allotted by the then Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda in Kadri.
Asked whether he is being sidelined in the party, Mr. Poojary said, “They can’t do it in their lifetime.”
Will the ‘real AC’ please stand up?
For some days, the people of Hassan sub-division were confused about who their Assistant Commissioner was. KAS officer E. Vijaya, who had been in the post since January 2015, was transferred on June 22, and H.L. Nagaraj took charge. Within a few days, Ms. Vijaya moved the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT) and got her transfer stayed. By then, Mr. Nagaraj assumed charge.
Ms. Vijaya, armed with the KAT order, claimed she was the Assistant Commissioner.
However, senior officers refused to accept this, and decided to seek clarification over the KAT order from the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR). A tahsildar, who was expecting Ms. Vijaya for a review meeting of the taluk, was surprised to see Mr. Nagaraj attending it. Meanwhile, frustrated over the developments, Ms. Vijaya allegedly attempted suicide.
To add to all the drama that had already unfolded, Minister for Animal Husbandry and Sericulture A. Manju, also in-charge of Hassan district, said KAS officer B.A. Jagadish has been posted as Assistant Commissioner of Hassan. When asked to clarify who the “real AC” was, the Minister maintained that only the person who executes duties of the post would be the Assistant Commissioner. By Friday, it was learnt that the DPAR has directed the Hassan DC to honour the KAT order, which reinstated Ms. Vijaya.
However, confusion continues as she too has not yet taken charge.
Setting the House in order
With the last month’s budget session of the legislature cut short following the Opposition parties’ protests, Legislative Assembly Speaker K.B. Koliwad has proposed to amend rules of both the Houses of the legislature to ensure its functioning at least for fours hours a day.
Before drafting a Bill to amend the rules, a panel comprising presiding officers of both the Houses have decided to visit other States and Parliament in Delhi to study the legislature rules.
“The legislature session should be held for at least 90 days in a year. Why only 60 days?” the Speaker asked, and sounded optimistic of bringing the Bill during the next session.
The Speaker’s statement assumes significance because the Assembly has not met for the minimum mandated 60 days for the past several years. The highest number of days the Assembly sat was 64 in 1982. Political analysts argue that the number of sittings has come down largely due to degeneration of politics. Will presiding officers succeed in amending existing rules is the moot question.
Crusade against liquor
The newly sworn in Health and Family Welfare Minister K.R. Ramesh Kumar is quite gung-ho about his new job. “Take necessary and stringent steps to stop sale of liquor in villages even if it causes fall in the revenue to the government,” Mr. Kumar thundered at a meeting convened at the zilla panchayat recently in Kolar.
However, there seems to be no dearth of availability of liquor in the district, which is facing severe shortage of potable water. “The ban on sale of liquor may not help keep the menfolk in rural areas happier, but certainly it will help maintain peace in the families,” he remarked. How far will his diktat be carried out remains to be seen.
Anil Kumar Sastry
Sathish G.T.
Nagesh Prabhu
Vishwa Kundapura
