Did Health Minister Sudhakar force BSY to announce night curfew on Wednesday, and did CM quietly reverse course on Thursday after a ‘rap’ from Delhi?
Another mystery: Health Commissioner Pandey takes leave just when there’s fear of second Covid wave
BENGALURU:
Whose brainchild was it to impose a week-long night curfew across Karnataka, including in the state capital, Bengaluru? That is the question crying to be answered, especially after the series of flip-flops on the issue by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa ended with him resorting to damage control and withdrawing his own curfew firman on Thursday. To use a favourite social media buzzword, who was the CM’s chief ‘influencer’?
If we look at the engagements of the CM on Wednesday, Yediyurappa did not meet a single Covid task force member on the day. Rather, it was Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar who held a detailed meeting with the task force members and later briefed the CM. Just a few hours later, at noon on Wednesday, Yediyurappa made his ‘night curfew’ announcement.
Sources said the night curfew announcement was not discussed with any of the CM’s cabinet colleagues, and neither were any senior bureaucrats taken into confidence on the issue. Rather, it was the Health Minister who took a unilateral decision on the night curfew after discussions with the technical advisory committee members, the sources added.
Read Here: COVID-19:Karnataka imposes night curfew from Dec 24 till Jan 1 https://thebengalurulive.com/covid-19karnataka-imposes-night-curfew-from-dec-24-till-jan-1/
On Tuesday, when media persons questioned the CM on the likelihood of a night curfew, Yediyurappa had said, “There is no need of a night curfew in Karnataka.” Then, on Wednesday morning, several Kannada news channels reporters put the same question to Dr Sudhakar. His reply was, “I will hold discussions with the Chief Minister and later an appropriate announcement will be made.”
‘Unhealthy’ pressure!
Sources close to the Chief Minister said Dr Sudhakar held lengthy discussions with Yediyurappa before he organised a media briefing at which the CM announced the imposition of a night curfew from Wednesday night, December 23. The sources added that once again it was the Health Minister who ‘pressured’ the CM hours later to revise night curfew timings from the earlier 10 pm-6am to 11 pm-5 am and to postpone the curfew to Thursday night, December 24.
Expectedly, the CM’s curfew ‘announcement-cum-amendment’ was criticized by a large cross-section of citizens, including pub and restaurant managements and party organisers who had been looking forward to a boost in business at year-end, especially on Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
More fuel was added to the fire on Thursday when many Kannada news channels joined in the chorus of criticism over the CM’s decision to impose a night curfew which would have little to no impact on controlling the spread of the dreaded coronavirus.
Who called CM from Delhi?
Adding to the popular anger was the fact that Karnataka was the only BJP-ruled state to impose an obviously unpopular night curfew at the festive close of 2020 (Maharashtra is the only other state yet to have announced a night curfew, but it is ruled by the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition of the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the NCP). That anger would have been noticed among the BJP brass in New Delhi, and as per sources it was a phone call from the national capital that made the CM do an about-turn and issue a press statement withdrawing the night curfew.
After the CMO statement on Thursday at around 5 pm withdrawing the night curfew, media persons sought a meeting with the CM but he refused to address them. A few hours later, Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar issued a two-page official order withdrawing the night curfew and appealing to the citizens of Karnataka to “strictly follow the Covid-awareness norms by maintaining social distancing and covering their faces.”
On a ‘health’ break!
Meanwhile, in another intriguing development, sources close to the Chief Minister said that Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey had gone on leave till the year-end. The news that Pandey, who has been relentlessly driving the government’s anti-Covid measures since the last 10 months without the luxury of a single day’s leave, had suddenly decided to take a break from Thursday triggered more questions about his equation with Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar, who had recently taken over the Health portfolio from B Sriramulu.
Curiously, until Wednesday Pandey had been seen in the company of both the Chief Minister and Dr Sudhakar. Sources said he needed a break as he had been working round the clock since the pandemic broke out in March 2020.
TheBengaluruLive sought reactions from both the Health Commissioner and the Health Minister, but neither of them responded to our messages.
Also Read: No need to impose night curfew in Karnataka for now: Chief Minister https://thebengalurulive.com/no-need-to-impose-night-curfew-in-karnataka-for-now-chief-minister/
