Ramanagara fair: DyCM Ashwath Narayan takes officials to task

“Action will be taken against all those responsible for the gathering.
Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka Ashwath Narayan. (Photo | Nagaraja Gadekal, EPS)
Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka Ashwath Narayan. (Photo | Nagaraja Gadekal, EPS)

BENGALURU: A day after footage of a temple fair in Ramanagara held on Thursday went viral, Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan—who is also district incharge minister of Ramanagara—took officials to task. While the panchayat development officer was suspended for permitting the gathering outside a temple in Kolagondanahalli village of Ramanagara for a fair, the DyCM has sought a detailed report from the deputy commissioner. 

“Action will be taken against all those responsible for the gathering. The panchayat officer has been suspended but what about other officials? What were they doing instead of stopping it?” fumed the DyCM. Visuals of hundreds of people gathering outside the temple in the village along with a crowded procession in the wee hours of Thursday went viral, drawing flak. The Ramanagara police filed cases against the temple priest and the festival’s organisers. 

Interestingly, JDS’ H D Kumaraswamy and Congress’ D K Shivakumar, who raised a hue and cry over government’s decision to lodge the accused from a Covid-19 containment zone in Bengaluru in Ramanagara jail, chose to maintain a stoic silence over the temple fair. Ramanagara is Shivakumar’s home turf and an assembly constituency formerly represented by Kumaraswamy. His wife Anitha Kumaraswamy is the incumbent MLA from the constituency. Ramanagara has been marked as a 
green zone.

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