BJP MLC makes offensive remark against chief secretary
In his comment on Tuesday, Ravikumar alleged that Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh 'works all night for the government and all day for the Chief Minister'.
Criticised as sexist and derogatory, the statement prompted the Mysuru-based women's rights group Odanadi Seva Samsthe to file a formal complaint with the director general of police. It also petitioned the state women's commission and the high court registrar.
'We have urged them to take action against this person,' said Odanadi's Parashuram ML. 'Until now, no action has been taken against anyone who has spoken disrespectfully or spitefully. Why can't we have some respect in public discourse,' he wondered.
This is not Ravikumar's first brush with controversy. Some five weeks ago, during BJP's Kalaburagi Chalo rally, he questioned the nationality of Kalaburagi DC Fauzia Tarannum, saying, 'I don't know whether the IAS officer is from Pakistan or from here.' The remark, which quickly spread on social media, was widely denounced as inflammatory and offensive.
Retired officials and rights groups warned that such attacks on civil servants could demoralise the administrative system. 'Such rhetoric promotes a culture of disrespect and sends a chilling message to officers working under pressure,' said one retired bureaucrat.
Ravikumar is yet to respond to the latest criticism. KPCC General Secretary S Manohar filed a complaint with the High Ground police, stating that Ravikumar made the statement near the Mahatma Gandhi statue close to Vidhana Soudha after a protest. The High Ground police said action will be taken after verifying details.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
25 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Ex-minister Bacchu Kadu sentenced to 3 months in jail for asaulting IAS officer
A special court on Tuesday sentenced former state minister Bacchu Kadu to three months' imprisonment in a case over assaulting an IAS officer at the state secretariat in 2019. The former MLA had lifted the officer's iPad and gestured to hit him, which the court said was not a casual act but one that conveyed the intention to cause harm. The court said that merely because he was a sitting MLA at that time, he did not have the licence to deter a public servant by criminally intimidating him. Kadu was found guilty under sections 353 (use of criminal force to deter public servant), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 504 (intentional insult) of the Indian Penal Code. The court also granted him bail and suspended his sentence to allow Kadu to file an appeal. 'In the case at hand, the accused, during the heated arguments, lifted the iPad and gestured to hit the informant (the officer). It was a threatening gesture made with an intention to create an apprehension of imminent use of criminal force. Therefore, this action on the part of the accused was an assault on the informant. The violent and voluntary act as such cannot be named differently,' special judge Satyanarayan Navander, designated for the trial of criminal cases involving MPS and MLAs, said. The case was filed at Marine Drive police station, alleging that on September 29, 2019, Kadu, along with others, barged into the office of IAS officer Pradeep P, who was then working as Information Technology director for the Maharashtra government. Kadu demanded that a report be given immediately regarding the issues that occurred during exams held by IT the department, police said. While the officer said he had called for a report, Kadu and his supporters became aggressive, abused the officer and picked up his iPad, threatening to hit him with it. Before leaving they threatened the officer that their demands for the report should be met in two days. The video of the incident was posted on social media by one of the supporters, the police had said. Kadu had argued that he had gone to the officer with a genuine cause as at that time due to irregularities in the Maha IT portal, the task of recruitment was affected severely. 'Even if that is accepted, the approach of the accused was inherently improper. However noble the intention, one cannot address a public servant in such a manner or threaten him with harm to life or reputation,' the court said, adding that there are legal channels available to raise grievances and Kadu could have directly addressed the Chief Minister too. 'The object of punishment as such is not only to give understanding to the accused but also to the prospective wrong doers that the office of administrative officers should be respected and legal ways be chosen for addressing the grievances,' the court said. During the trial, the officer was examined as the first witness who deposed about the incident. Other witnesses included another IAS officer present in the office along with other staffers. Kadu's lawyer had said that there are no eyewitnesses, nor any CCTV footage. He also denied use of any criminal force or abusive language. He had also claimed that the witnesses had not given an approximate time of the attack. 'Given that the incident occurred suddenly, it is unreasonable to expect witnesses to note the precise time. A difference of a few minutes is inconsequential where the rest of the testimony is consistent and satisfactory,' the court said. The video recording of the incident, the court, said was not proven. Kadu, a leader of the Prahar Janshakti Party, was in 2023, convicted by a Nashik court to one year jail term in a 2017 case for allegedly abusing and attempting to hit the then Nashik Municipal Commissioner, Abhishek Krishna. The appeal is pending before the Bombay High Court. In 2024, Kadu was acquitted in a case of assault of a clerk at Mantralaya in 2011.
News18
an hour ago
- News18
UAE carries out 69th airdrop of aid, delivers 500 tonnes of food aid into Gaza
Abu Dhabi [UAE] August 12 (ANI/WAM):The United Arab Emirates is continuing its humanitarian support for the Palestinian people in the Gaza the UAE conducted its 69th airdrop of aid under Operation Birds of Goodness, part of Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, in cooperation with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and with the participation of Germany, Italy, Belgium, and shipment included quantities of essential food supplies, prepared with the support of UAE-based charitable institutions and entities, to meet the needs of residents amid the difficult humanitarian conditions in the addition, 20 trucks loaded with approximately 500 tonnes of food supplies entered Gaza through land crossings, as part of the UAE's ongoing efforts to secure vital supplies by land and total volume of aid airdropped by the UAE has now reached more than 3,924 tonnes of various relief items, including food and essential supplies, underscoring its steadfast commitment to supporting the Palestinian people and bolstering their initiatives reflect the UAE's leading role in international relief work, by mobilising regional and international efforts and reinforcing a humanitarian giving approach to alleviate the suffering of those affected in crisis areas.(ANI/WAM)
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Rahul alleges malpractice in voting: Maharashtra Cong to ‘reach out to every household to apprise people of wrongdoings'
Intensifying the nationwide protest against the alleged malpractices in election process launched by party leader Rahul Gandhi, the state Congress on Tuesday said it would appraise people in the state of the 'wrongdoings by reaching out to every household'. 'Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has proved the wrongdoings in the election process of the country. The Election Commission (EC), instead of responding to the queries raised, has served notice to him. The state Congress will further intensify the protest in Maharashtra,' said Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, in-charge of party affairs in Maharashtra. He said the BJP and the Union government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi are finishing democracy. 'Free and fair elections are becoming impossible in the country. We had raised it in the Maharashtra Assembly election when we noticed a big change in voters' choice compared to three months prior to that during the Lok Sabha elections last year,' he added. 'The malpractices seen during the Maharashtra Assembly elections were also witnessed in the Haryana Assembly elections and now it is likely to be repeated in the Bihar elections,' he said. The EC does what the BJP-led Union government says and the BJP is busy defending the EC for the wrongdoings, said Chennithala. 'The state Congress will reach out to every household on the issue of malpractices in elections. We will do a signature campaign and tell the public about vote cheating,' he said. The Congress leader said the Mahayuti government is postponing local body elections deliberately so as to use funds of civic bodies to manage its finances as the government is facing a serious financial crisis due to its wrong schemes. The Congress has not taken any decision on a pre-poll alliance for the forthcoming civic polls, he said, adding the party leaders are still discussing it. Chennithala said the closeness of two cousins MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray was not a cause of concern for the Congress. 'MNS is not in our alliance. We don't know anything about the MNS and Sena (UBT) alliance, so we cannot comment on it. We don't have any issues if cousins are coming close but the alliance of their parties will be a political issue. We will discuss if it actually happens,' he said. State Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal said BJP rule in the country is destroying democracy and the party has chalked out a six-month programme to protest against it. 'The BJP always talks of a Congress-free country but 40 per cent of its leaders are imported from the Congress,' he said.
