Cop suicide, graft charges throw govt in a tizzy

Siddaramaiah’s government is in the dock following a DSP’s suicide hours after he accused state minister K J George of harassing him. Corruption allegations against the chief minister and his Cabinet colleagues further muddy the waters

The suicide of a police officer has thrown the Congress government in Karnataka led by Siddaramaiah into disarray.

K J George, minister for Bengaluru development and town planning, and a senior member of Siddaramaiah’s Cabinet, resigned on July 17 after a court in Madikeri in Kodagu district ordered the police to file a case against him over the suicide of Deputy Superintendent of Police M K Ganapathy on July 7.

In an interview to a news channel, the DSP had accused George and two senior police officers of harassing him. Hours later, he ended his life at a lodge in Madikeri.

Siddaramaiah and his Cabinet colleagues defended George, who as home minister, had interacted with Ganapathy. The chief minister even cited data of suicides by police personnel, contending that it was a trend in the state for which “political interference” could not be blamed. Following Ganapathy’s death, Opposition parties — the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) — prevented the state Assembly from functioning for more than a week demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Instead, Siddaramaiah appointed a judicial commission of inquiry headed by retired Karnataka High Court judge K N Keshavanarayana. “George quit on moral grounds; not under any pressure,” said Siddaramaiah.

This is not the first time his government has been in the dock for its relations with the state police. DSP Anupama Shenoy had quit in June after she was allegedly hounded by Labour Minister P T Parameshwar Naik. Although Siddaramaiah dropped Naik in a Cabinet reshuffle, the credibility of his government took a hit.

In the reshuffle, the chief minister also dropped non-performing ministers and brought in young faces to take on key roles. This angered some entrenched Congress members and they revolted against his decision.

The BJP took this opportunity to launch campaigns targeting the constituencies of Congress legislators and highlighting the charges against various ministers, even though Assembly elections are two years away. State BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa is spearheading these campaigns and taking on the government for its “blunders”. Yeddyurappa, former chief minister, was acquitted by the High Court in all cases relating to denotification of land in January this year.

While there are corruption charges against the state government, Siddaramaiah himself faces charges of impropriety for allegedly accepting expensive gifts and awarding contracts to firms owned by his son.

The chief minister has accused the BJP of double standards. He said that more than a dozen Union ministers, including Uma Bharti and Bandaru Dattatreya had cases registered against them. “Will Yeddyurappa demand the resignation of the Union ministers on moral grounds,” he asked.

For now, Siddaramaiah is holding the portfolio of capital city Bengaluru, which contributes 60 per cent to the state income but still faces infrastructure challenges. Last month, the chief minister stepped up focus on the city, earmarking ~7,200 crore to improve infrastructure such as flyovers and subways. There have also been efforts to expand industry outside the city.

Independent Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar said these “projects were designed for elections rather than for the city”.

Amid the ruckus in the Assembly over George, the government had passed a Bill that aims to reduce the area reserved for public parks and playgrounds in layouts to 10 per cent of the total area from the earlier 15 per cent. A similar move is being planned for Bengaluru. This drew criticism from various quarters as well as allegations that the move favours the real estate lobby, several of whom are ministers in the state Cabinet. Former minister George is said to have real estate interests in Bengaluru.

Siddaramaiah is also bracing for another attack — from former Union minister C K Jaffer Sharief, a senior Congress leader from Bengaluru. Sharief has demanded that a leader within the party become the chief minister, hinting that Siddaramaiah, who joined the party from the JD-S, should go.

Siddaramaiah had rebuilt the Congress with his Ahinda movement and led it to power after JD-S chief and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda favoured his son H D Kumaraswamy for the chief minister’s post over him.

A series of challenges now threatens to jeopardise Siddaramaiah’s position, both within the party and as chief minister.