CHIKKAMAGALURU: People visiting the Chikkamagaluru City Municipal Council on Monday were in for a rude shock as they found that the entire premises were deserted. The reason was that all the top officials — CMC president Varasiddhi Venugopal, vice-president Umadevi, commissioner B C Basavaraj — working staff and civic workers had gone to view ‘The Kashmir Files’ during duty hours.
This did not go down well with the Congress. The District Congress Committee (DCC), led by its president Dr K P Anshumanth, staged a protest before the municipal office accusing that BJP-ruled municipality of forgetting its duty and causing a lot of inconvenience to the citizens.The protesters shouted slogans such as ‘Municipality is absconding, staff is missing’ and had a verbal duel with municipal commissioner B C Basavaraj, who arrived on the scene after hearing the news.
Anshumanth said watching the movie during work hours showed the irresponsibility of the CMC. He criticised the staff for signing in the movement register and then skipping work. Meanwhile, speaking to reporters after watching the movie, the CMC president hailed the film and said it was based on “factual events” in Jammu and Kashmir. He praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for repealing Article 370, which, he said, facilitated the screening of the movie.