SHIVAMOGGA: A heated argument broke out between Shivamogga City Corporation Commissioner and IAS officer Charulata Somal and MLC Ayanur Manjunath here on Tuesday. Charulata lost her cool as Manjunath addressed her in a ‘disrespectful tone’. Somal and Manjunath were visiting works undertaken by the smart city project in Sharavati Nagar. They were accompanied with District Minister D C Thammanna, MLA K S Eshwarappa, Deputy Commissioner K A Dayanand and Superintendent of Police Dr Ashini M.
When Somal was speaking to Thammanna about the works in progress, Manjunath interrupted and said the work was going on too slowly and added that many areas lacked basic amenities, including streetlights. He alleged that these problems had not been solved despite being brought to the commissioner’s notice.
Somal, however, refuted these allegations and asked Manjunath to speak properly. To this, an angry Manjunath said, “You want respect? Should people die when the situation is like this? You are a commissioner, right? Then solve these problems.”The commissioner hit back. “Don’t talk to me in a singular tone. You must show respect to earn respect,” she said. This angered Manjunath further and he dared her to take action against him. This is when Thammanna intervened and pacified them.