Soumitra Bose
New Delhi (The Hawk): Kumaraswamy cribs… Former Karnataka CM and now aiming for snatching CMship from the Congress, Haradanahalli Devegowda Kumaras-wamy or simply, K’Swamy fumes, frets. as he accuses the current state government of ‘insulting 6.5 crore Kannadigas’: Kumaraswamy slams move to send IAS officers to welcome Opposition lead. JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy alleged that the Congress has introduced ‘IAS bonded labour’ in the state and has started a new form of ‘political, administrative colonialism’. The Congress government in Karnataka has come under fire from the JD(S) for deputing senior IAS officers to welcome leaders from various Opposition parties, who arrived in Bengaluru on Monday to take part in a mega Opposition party meeting on Tuesday.
Tweeting out the list of officers sent to welcome the leaders, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy slammed the government for “conducting the final rites of Karnataka’s pride, heritage and self-esteem”. It was wrong to send IAS officers to welcome politicians arriving from other states, he said on Tuesday.
“This is not a government programme, nor the swearing-in of a new government. This was just a political meeting. Sending responsible officers to welcome these leaders is an insult to 6.5 cr Kannadigas and is a great tragedy,” he said. Deputing the officers to welcome political leaders, Kumaraswamy alleged, reflected the arrogance of the ruling Congress government. “This is a clear violation of IAS service rules. I am shocked that the officials agreed to do this even after knowing that agreeing to welcome the leaders would hurt their dignity,” he said, demanding a response from the chief secretary on the issue. The purported list, shared by Kumaraswamy, names several prominent IAS officers including Anbu Kumar, K P Mohan Raj, V Ponnuraj, C Shikha, M T Reju, Dr Thrilok Chandra K V and Vishal R, among others. The former Karnataka chief minister alleged that the Congress, which believes in capitalism, has introduced “IAS bonded labour” in the state and has started a new form of “political, administrative colonialism”. The former Karnataka chief minister alleged that the Congress, which believes in capitalism, has introduced “IAS bonded labour” in the state and has started a new form of “political, administrative colonialism”. JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday accused the Congress government in Karnataka of introducing “IAS bonded labour policy" in the State by deputing 30 IAS officers to "serve" its alliance leaders, meeting in the city to strategise for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The former Chief Minister said IAS officers are symbols of State’s ability and efficiency, and deputing these officials as "door keepers" to serve politicians is in clear violation of All India Services (Conduct ) Rules. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress chief, maintained that due protocol for state guests has been followed. "In its greed to wrest power by forging an alliance, Congress has performed last rites for pride, heritage and self esteem of Karnataka. It is wrong on part of @INCKarnataka to depute IAS officers to serve its alliance leaders. Is this what they meant walk the talk?" Kumaraswamy asked in a tweet sharing a list of names of IAS officer's who are deputed to host the political leaders attending the meeting. "This is neither a state government programme, nor the swearing in ceremony of a new government. It is just a political meeting. Deputing responsible officers to host its alliance political leaders is a grave injustice done to 6.5 crore Kannadigas and a great insult to the state," he said. With a call for unity, top leaders of 26 opposition parties began crucial deliberations on Monday to chalk out their joint programme aimed at defeating the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, chief ministers M K Stalin, Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren and RJD chief Lalu Prasad were among those who attended the dinner meeting on Monday, where discussions are on to finalise the agenda for the formal talks starting this morning. Noting that IAS officers are symbols of State’s ability and efficiency, and they play a key role in State’s development, Kumaras-wamy said deputing these officials as "door keepers" to serve politicians reflects the height of the arrogance of the ruling party. "This is clear violation of All India Services (Conduct ) Rules. I was surprised and shocked that officials agreed to do this job knowing that it would dent their self-respect and honour. The Chief Secretary who issued such a controversial order is answerable to the people," he said. The former CM further alleged that the "Capitalist Congress party" has introduced “IAS bonded labour” policy in the State thus ushering a new colonial administrative system in the country. "Yes, Congress is always known for being infamous. That is the asset of the party with the hand symbol," he said, accusing the Congress of showing extreme arrogance to Kannadigas for their mistake of giving 135 seats. …In view of this, the moot question is, is Kumaraswamy right and is he indirectly threatening the Congress Government of being uprooted from power via “the angry IAS and other Civil Servants in the state of Karnataka? The answer is yet to come, say insiders but they are abundantly amused at K’Swamy’s braggadocio.