Sudhakar v/s Sudhakar
A slugfest is brewing between the two Dr Sudhakars of Karnataka politics. The commonalities between these two is not just their names -- they are both health professionals who quit medicine to join politics and both hail from Chikkaballapur. Dr MC Sudhakar from Chintamani has made allegations against Health minister Dr K Sudhakar that the latter has amassed huge wealth by indulging in corruption. When the Minister was quizzed about the allegations in Bengaluru, he said they only had one common factor -- their names. “A sandalwood tree can compete with another sandalwood tree and not with the gutter. So, I don’t want to reply to these kinds of allegations. If anyone has any issue with me, they are welcome to complain to investigative agencies as I am very prompt in declaring my assets to the election commission and even
Lokayukta,” the Minister said on Sunday. The ball is now in Sudhakar’s court.
Not ‘so close’
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It looks like all is not well within the Congress. Supporters of former Chief Minister
Siddaramaiah and
KPCC president DK Shivakumar are tussling over who should be declared as the CM candidate. Chamarajpet MLA BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan has openly supported the candidature of Siddaramaiah. During a recent press conference, journalists wanted a reaction from Siddaramaiah on Zameer’s statements. The question angered the former CM. “Don’t ask me such questions. I don’t want to reply to these questions,” he snapped. During the same press conference, many
Congress leaders were seated, but DKS and Siddaramaiah were seated quite apart. DKS was seen making gestures to the former CM to come closer. However, the latter refused to acknowledge this and didn’t move an inch.
CM not-so-cool
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Chief Minister Basavaraj
Bommai is known as Mr Cool. Unlike his predecessor
BS Yediyurappa who was caught on camera scolding people, Bommai is usually seen calm and composed at least in front of the cameras. However, the first year anniversary which should have put the CM in a joyous mood exposed his dark mood. At a late night press conference to announce the cancellation of the Janotsava programme, where reporters and camera persons were present, the CM was seen scolding a few officials. Then, he started requesting the press persons to leave the venue as he wanted to address the programme.
Actress feels protest heat
Kannada actress and politician Bhavana
Kannada actress and politician
Bhavana had to ward off tricky questions when she was about to take part in a protest organised by the Congress against the BJP. Many leaders from the party were part of the event. When Bhavana was about to be seated in the front row, a Congress worker asked why Bhavana was a part of this protest at all. Later, Bhavana clarified that this was because many Congress workers were not aware that she had quit the BJP and joined Congress. “Many still don’t know that I have rejoined Congress and were wondering why a BJP leader was taking part in the protest. I was not seen in public for a long time due to various issues. So, the activists on the ground didn’t know that I had re-joined Congress,” she said.
Schools, hostels decline offer of ‘free food’
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Residents of Raghunathpura near Doddaballapur were invited to a feast recently. The event was the first year anniversary of the Bommai government. However, the programme was cancelled at the last minute, but the chefs had already begun preparing food by then and there was no way to halt the food production as it was almost done -- they had made veg pulav and tomato bath for 10,000 people. So, the leaders who were present at the venue decided to offer the food to locals. The leaders contacted schools and hostels in Devanahalli and Doddaballapur whether the food can be served to them, but they declined the offer. So the food was offered to the residents. The organisers had spent close to Rs 1.5 crore to set up huge pandals to accommodate 20,000-plus people. -Sridhar Vivan
