Don’t shift film city from Mysuru to Ramanagara, Siddaramaiah tells HDK

BENGALURU: Looking to rub more salt in the wounds of the JD(S)-Congress coalition government, former chief minister Siddaramaiah has shot off another letter to chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, asking him to reconsider shifting of the film city from Mysuru to Ramanagara.
Siddaramaiah, who is the chairman of the Congress-JD(S) coalition coordination committee, has so far written four letters to Kumaraswamy on a series of issues.
In his fifth letter dated July 31, Siddaramaiah has asked Kumaraswamy to reconsider the budget announcement to shift the film city to Ramanagara, the CM’s home constituency, and go ahead with the project in Mysuru, which is Siddaramaiah’s home district.
“Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar had also wanted the film city to be set up in Mysuru. Keeping this in view, I had decided to set up it in Mysuru and approved hundreds of acres of land for the purpose,” he said. He claimed this has been a demand of the Sandalwood as Mysuru is one of the most sought-after destinations for shooting not just Kannada, but Hindi and Telugu films too.
He noted that film shooting has been taking place in Mysuru since 1945 and recalled contributions of studios like Navajyoti and Premier which produced talented actors and technicians. “Your announcement to shift the film city has come when 20% of the work has been completed. I request you to reconsider the decision in the larger interest of the Kannada industry,” he added.
Reacting to the letter, water resources and Ramanagara district incharge minister DK Shivakumar said: “The decision to shift the film city has been approved in the budget. I don’t want to talk about it since it’s not connected to my department.”
Letter politics during coalition times
Former chief minister Siddaramaiah’s letters are seen as an attempt to hold sway over the JD(S)-Congress coalition government. He seems to have taken a cue from his former boss and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda, who had written 33 letters in 2004-05 to the then Congress-JD(S) coalition government headed by Dharam Singh with Siddaramaiah as the deputy chief minister. The former CM has refused to heed the suggestion of newly appointed JD(S) chief AH Vishwanath and KPCC chief Dinesh Gundurao to discuss such issues at coordination committee meetings, instead of writing letters.Transfers being issued on legislators’ requests, clarifies Revanna
Slug: Cash-for-transfer allegations
Bengaluru/Hassan: Public works department (PWD) minister HD Revanna on Monday gave a strong rebuttal to allegations of a “cash-for-transfer scam” levelled against him by the BJP, saying that all transfers from his department are being done based on “request letters” from legislators.
“Whenever there have been vacancies at the local level, I have issued promotions and transfers to eligible engineers from my department, as per the rulebook. I have not done anything on my own. All vacancies are being filled within the four per cent cap fixed on transfers in the cadre and recruitment rules,” Revanna told reporters.
Revanna said PWD has over 1,000 vacancies, including 400 empty assistant executive engineers’ (AEE) posts awaiting transfers by way of promotions from junior engineers’ posts. He said another 166 posts at the executive engineer level are also vacant along with 26 superintendent engineers’ posts.
“All these posts are to be filled by way of promotions. However, due to the case on promotions by way of reservations pending before the Supreme Court, we are unable to do so,” he said.
Earlier, in Hassan, he dared state BJP chief and former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa to prove his allegations of Revanna making money by transferring officers. The minister said he’s ready to provide the list of officers who were transferred if Yeddyurappa wants it.
“If Yeddyurappa finds any irregularity in the transfer list, I am ready to answer his questions. The BJP leader is making false and baseless allegations. If I am found interfering in the administration of other departments, then deputy CM G Parameshwara or the ministers concerned have the right to question me,” he said.
The PWD minister, who’s the brother of chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, claimed that barring his own department he has not interfered in any other department transfers.
Revanna said the department will call for a public hearing later this week to debate and deliberate over the five elevated corridors in Bengaluru. “The project was never proposed by this government but was pending for over 10 years. Finally, deputy CM G Parameshwara and industries minister KJ George (in the previous government) decided to hand over the project to the road development authority which comes under my department. We’ll allocate 45 days for the public hearing, after which environmental clearance will be sought. Only then will we consider the project,” said the minister. Revanna said the projects will be completed in three stages, and that Rs 20 crore has been allocated for the first phase.