Bureaucratic, police transfers mark Day 1 of Yeddyurappa govt

BENGALURU: Within hours of being sworn in as Karnataka chief minister on Thursday, Bharatiya Janata Party’s BS Yeddyurappa announced a slew of decisions and ordered bureaucratic transfers, which the opposition called a “blatant power grab.”

Yeddyurappa told journalists that he had asked the chief secretary to look into the waiver of farm loans up to ₹1 lakh per person, which he had promised during the election campaign that he would do within 24 hours of being sworn in.

“The chief secretary said she would study the matter and give me a report in the next day or two. So, in about two or three days I will take the decision,” Yeddyurappa said.

The chief minister did not stop there. Through the course of the day, Yeddyurappa also effected the transfers of senior officials in the administration and police.

M Lakshminarayana was notified as the new additional chief secretary to the CM, replacing LK Atheeq. Similarly, there was an overhaul of the intelligence wing of the police.

Amar Kumar Pandey was named the additional director general of police, intelligence, and Sandeep Patil was named deputy inspector general of police, intelligence.

Two other officers were posted as deputy commissioners of police in the city. K Annamalai, Chikkamgaluru SP, was transferred to Ramanagara district. The Eagleton Golf Resort, where 78 MLAS supporting the Congress are staying, is located in the district. A new advocate general, Prabhuling K Navadgi, was also appointed for the state.

The Congress also alleged that the police cover provided outside the resort had been withdrawn. Addressing reporters at the entrance to the resort, former energy minister DK Shivakumar said this showed that the BJP was attempting to grab power.

“They could not even wait for Supreme Court’s hearing (on Friday) before effecting so many bureaucratic changes. This tells you what the BJP is trying to do,” he said, adding “They have even withdrawn police cover outside the resort. But that’s all right, we don’t need any protection.”

Constitutional expert Sudhir Krishnaswamy, said ordinarily as soon as a CM is sworn in, he may exercise full executive power. But as the Supreme Court has said that no other minister may take the oath of office “this implies that it is a caretaker government,” he said. NEW DELHI: Senior lawyer and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Jethmalani approached the Chief Justice Of India Dipak Misra with his plea to let him argue in his personal capacity against the Karnataka governor’s decision to invite the BJP to form government in the state, saying it was a “gross abuse of constitutional power”.

A three-judge bench led by CJI Misra asked Jethmalani to mention the matter before Justice AK Sikri’s court, which will hear Janata Dal (S) and Congress’s petition against the governor’s decision on Friday morning.

A special bench headed by Justice Sikri had on Thursday early morning declined to stay the oath ceremony of BS Yedyurappa as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. But it had asked senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi to produce the letter written by Yedyurappa to the governor contending he had the majority. On Friday the bench is expected to pursue the letter.

“The governor’s order is a gross abuse of the constitutional power and this has brought disrepute to the constitutional office he has been holding,”jethmalani submitted while seeking nod to submit his views in the case. He said that he has not come before the court in favour or against any party but has been hurt over the unconstitutional decision taken by the Governor. In a related development the Congress-jd(s) combine moved an application against Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala’s decision to nominate an Anglo-indian member to the assembly, saying it should not be done till the floor test in the House. The application will also be heard with the main matter on Friday. The nomination, the application stated, should be set aside till Yeddyurappa undergoes the floor test in the House to prove majority. “The use of Governor’s office for such ill-conceived and unconstitutional political ambitions and desires would amount to a death knell to democracy which is a basic feature of our Constitution,” read the plea, mentioned by advocate Devdutt Kamat, counsel of Congress-jd(s)combine.