The cold war between Deputy Chief Minister R Ashok and Health Minister Arvind Limbavali seems to have come to the fore. Dumping of garbage at Mandur Landfill seems to be the bone of contention.
The problem seems to have started after Limbavali became Health Minister. It is said that he is pleading CM Jagadish Shettar to make him Minister In-charge of Bangalore, the position once enjoyed by former IT/BT Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu. However, Shettar has reportedly said ‘no’ to Limbavali’s demand.
Sources told Express that Limbavali was not happy with Ashok who holds two powerful portfolios — Home and Transport — besides the post of Deputy CM.
“When Ashok is already overburdened with many responsibilities why he does he need to be given additional responsibility of district in-charge minister?” sources asked.
Last week, when villagers were protesting against garbage dumping and stopping trucks from entering their village, Avalahalli police had arrested protesters. Limbavali went to the station and reportedly took the police officials to task police for arresting villagers (said to be his supporters) and got them released. Mandur is part of Mahadevapura Assembly constituency and Limbavali represents it in the Legislative Assembly.
On Tuesday, villagers, including some supporters of Limbavali threatened to dump waste in front of Ashok’s residence if the BBMP does not stop sending garbage to Mandur landfill.
Meanwhile, Limbavali blamed BBMP for the problem. “BBMP has wasted time in identifying alternate sites for dumping garbage,” he said and claimed that he has no issues with Ashok.
Meanwhile, Ashok accused ‘vested interests’ of creating trouble at Mandur. “There are four to five groups in Mandur which are causing nuisance. Besides, some vested interests are behind previous incidents. This is because we increased buffer zone area from existing 50 meters to one kilometre,” Ashok told Express.
He said he has no differences of opinion with Limbavali. “We sat together and discussed this issue. It is Congress which is creating confusion in Mandur,” he added and sought to know reasons for the sudden problem which was not there in the last 20 years.
“I see politics behind all these developments. We will send garbage as per HC orders,” he said.