BENGALURU: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday made an impromptu visit to the Covid-19 war room on Magadi Road, as well as BBMP West Zone war room in Malleswaram. The visit was an attempt to boost the morale of war room staffers and officials, after the controversial visit of Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, MLAs Uday Garudachar, Satish Reddy and Ravi Subramanya, and allegations of a bed-booking scam with communal barbs.
Yediyurappa was all praise for the staffers and officials heading the units, in stark contrast to the BJP MP and MLAs’ apparent ‘raid’ on South Zone war room last week, that ended in a blame game. “We are operating this war room in a systematic manner, which probably cannot be seen anywhere in the country. Officials and staff work 24/7 in multiple shifts every day. I commend them for their service,” Yediyurappa said.
His praise for the staffers comes at a time when media has been highlighting the fallout of the controversy with a communal twist, with many volunteers and staffers refusing to turn up for work, forcing a human resource crunch due to fear. BBMP and health officials told the CM that staff morale is at a low. Yediyurappa’s visit, the first such, is an attempt to salvage the situation.
“Yediyurappa has always been pro-active in visiting hospitals, care centres etc. Today, he visited the war room to get an up, close and personal understanding of how things work. He was impressed with the functioning of the war room. He spoke to the staffers and commended them for their service,” said MP Renukacharya, CM’s Political Secretary who accompanied him to the war room. The CM’s decision to visit the war room came after he met BJP National General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santhosh on Tuesday morning. He had earlier thanked Tejasvi for highlighting the bed-booking scam.