BANGALORE: Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa has again criticised the style of functioning of the state government.
Also Read: Gandhi Jayanti Gift to Weavers, Artisans
The latest salvo came in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramiah on Thursday at the unveiling of the 27-foot bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi.
Speaking at the programme, the Speaker sarcastically remarked that the government should at least wake up from the slumber after seeing this statue in their midst.
"Administrative machinery should be speeded up. People have high expectations while thousands of files are gathering dust. At least after looking at Gandhi's statue you whip up the officers and make them work to keep promises," he said while looking in the CM's direction.
"I have raised the bureaucratic slumber several times inside and outside the Assembly. Nothing seems to have changed. At least for the remaining term ensure that promises are kept and delivered on time," Thimmppa told Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who appeared to be uncomfortable with such caustic comments from a veteran leader.
The Speaker's jibes in the past had embarrassed the government and the Chief Minister.
A visibly perturbed Siddaramaiah, however, avoided responding to Thimmappa's charges and instead highlighted Gandhi's ideologies and his murderers.
"We still have in our midst those who believe in what Gandhi's killers believed. We should unitedly fight such ragtag elements," he said underlining the need to maintain communal harmony by dissuading those who play politics in the name of religion to divide society.
The Chief Minister also felicitated two sculptors of the statue, Sriram Sutar and Anil Sutar.