‘Acting Minister deep into transfer business by taking money from officers’

Mysore/Mysuru: Alleging that transfer politics has become rampant in Mysuru District in the past few months, K.R. Nagar JD(S) MLA S.R. Mahesh claimed that the District has two In-charge Ministers —- official (S.T. Somashekar) and the other acting (A.H. Vishwanath).

Though Mahesh did not take Vishwanath’s name directly, all his accusations were directed at Vishwanath, a former Minister, senior BJP leader and Mahesh’s arch political rival.

Addressing a press meet at his office near Rama Vilas Road here yesterday, S.R. Mahesh, who is also a former Minister, alleged that the leader who is called acting in-charge (A.H. Vishwanath), was involved in the transfer of Mysuru Excise DC and a whopping Rs. 2 crore had exchanged hands for the transfer, following which the transferred Excise DC has moved the KAT seeking a stay on his transfer.

He further alleged that the acting in-charge, who is also a former Minister and a former MP, had demanded Rs. 50 lakh for the transfer of a PWD Assistant Engineer to Mysuru.

Continuing his tirade against the senior BJP leader without naming him at any point of time during his presser, Mahesh said that this leader who won on a JD(S) ticket from Hunsur in the 2018 Assembly polls by a huge margin, lost the seat by a big margin contesting from the same seat on a BJP ticket within less than 20 months.

Rice sold illegally

Alleging that this leader indulged in transfers without the knowledge of even District Minister S.T. Somashekar, the JD(S) MLA alleged that the senior BJP leader was also pestering rice mill owners to part with a good number of quintals of rice for selling elsewhere.

Questioning the leader for what purpose he was doing this and where all this rice has been distributed, Mahesh wanted answers from the leader on the disposal of rice illegally transported out of rice mills. Stating that he has written to the Deputy Commissioner to clarify the issue, Mahesh cautioned that he would be forced to release documents if the leader does not come up with a satisfactory explanation on his rice mill dealings.

Caution against wild assumptions

Referring to the leader’s recent assertion that more than 50,000 people would have died of the deadly COVID-19 by now, had the coalition Government continued in power, Mahesh asked his bête noire (Vishwanath) to watch his words while speaking against former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy. He also urged him not to make wild assumptions especially at a time when the entire world is battling the deadly pandemic.

Mahesh also chided the BJP Government for not mentioning the name of former CM Kumaraswamy at the house distribution programme for Kodagu flood victims. He asserted that Kumaraswamy was responsible for the construction of houses when he was the coalition Government CM.

City JD(S) President K.T. Cheluvegowda, former Mayor R. Lingappa, leaders K.V. Mallesh, Ravichandregowda, Vivekananda and others were present at the press meet.