Minor irrigation minister TG Venkatesh might have defended his acerbic comments on IAS officers by saying that they were aimed only at non-performing officers, but some colleagues in his party are gunning for his head.
Some leaders in the Congress are disapproving of Venkatesh’s utterances and demanding that he withdraw his comments immediately so as to restore the congenial atmosphere between babus and politicos, which is necessary for proper functioning of the government.
Secunderabad Cantonment MLA P Shankar Rao and MLC Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy on Monday came down heavily on Venkatesh for not repenting on his remarks. They even went to the extent of urging chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to sack the minor irrigation minister in case he did not retract on his utterances.
“Being a minister Venkatesh should not have made such remarks on IAS officers who play a vital role in implementing government’s decisions,” the former minister said and added that Venkatesh’s unscrupulous talk might widen the rift between politicians and bureaucrats.
Sudhakar Reddy said he would complain to the party high command about the “bellicose nature” of the minor irrigation minister. He said it was not appropriate for a minister to “have a loose tongue” and make disparaging remarks on officers at a time when the chief minister was trying hard to improve the government’s image by taking up a novel mass-contact programme, Indiramma Bata. YSRC leaders have also flayed the utterances of Venkatesh. G Gurunatha Reddy, MLA, and SV Mohan Reddy, former MLC, said the minister should unconditionally apologise to IAS officers for his rude remarks. “If the criterion of killing non-performing persons in government is to be followed, then half of the members of the state cabinet must be shot dead for not discharging their duties properly,” Gurunatha Reddy said.