BENGALURU: Ongoing shadow fighting between two senior ministers from Bengaluru — R Ashoka and CN Ashwath Narayan — came to the fore in Vidhana Soudha on Friday as they exchanged words in front of CM Basavaraj Bommai and officials. The argument in the singular continued for some time over the transfer of 2 tahsildars from Ramanagara district.
According to officials, Narayan, who is Ramanagara's in-charge minister, had asked for the transfer of the tahsildars of Magadi and Ramanagara taluks. Ashoka, who is the revenue minister, has not obliged yet despite reminders from Narayan.
When the ministers met in the Soudha lounge, Narayan, who was upset that his request has not been met for three weeks, sought to know from Ashoka reasons for delay in transfer.
Suddenly, both leaders lost their cool and accused each other of oneupmanship. "How can you not meet my request? I'm the Ramanagara district minister and it is my prerogative to take a call on transfers in the district. As revenue minister, you should only oblige," Narayan reportedly said. Ashoka said he cannot order transfer of officials as and when requests come.
Later, Narayan denied any spat with Ashoka and said they "discussed" the tahsildar transfer issue. "We did not have a fight," he added.
Power struggle between Ashoka and Narayan has been going on since 2019 when they fought over the Bengaluru development portfolio. Bommai -- like his predecessor BS Yediyurappa -- has retained the portfolio to prevent any fight between the two.
