BENGALURU: Chief Minister DK Shivakumar seems to have picked his choice of people for critical posts, replacing those who were at the helm of affairs during former chief minister Siddaramaiah’s tenure.
Diwakar has been posted as managing director of the Karnataka State Cooperative Apex Bank, removing CN Devaraj, and Dr ST Suresh has been appointed to the Karnataka Milk Federation, replacing Shivaswamy. Shivakumar’s younger brother and former Bengaluru Rural MP DK Suresh is eying the KMF chairman’s post, while his brother-in-law and MLC S Ravi the Apex Bank chief’s position.
The new appointments have not gone down well within Congress, especially among AHINDA leaders, as most of the officers removed hail from oppressed communities and those who replaced them are from the Vokkaliga community.
With the move, Shivakumar, also a Vokkaliga, is trying to impress upon the community that he is the only alternative to JDS patriarch and former PM prime minister HD Deve Gowda. But this could have a negative impact on the future of the party if the trend continued, sources said.
Meanwhile, senior IPS officer R Hithendra is likely to be appointed as Bengaluru city police commissioner, sources said.