S Rajendran & Nagesh Prabhu/The Hindu
- 'Puja was Muzrai Department’s move'
- 'Yeddyurappa was not informed'
Bangalore, Jun 13: Monday’s order of the Karnataka government, deemed as highly controversial by the adversaries of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and directing the nearly 37,000 muzrai temples to perform at least one puja a day for the well-being of the people (Lokakalyana) on behalf of Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and the new BJP Government in the State, has been withdrawn.
Sources in the Government told The Hindu here on Thursday that the order was withdrawn as it was “a unilateral decision of the Muzrai Department, particularly Minister S.N. Krishnaiah Setty. The decision has been taken without the knowledge of the Chief Minister.” It has been described as a decision bordering on sycophancy more than an attempt to promote any culture.
The circular was reportedly discussed at length at a Cabinet meeting following which a decision was taken to withdraw it with immediate effect. A few Ministers are stated to have attempted to prevail upon the Chief Minister that there was nothing wrong with the circular and that there was precedence of a Government Order directing puja at all muzrai temples. It was also argued at the meeting that directing such a puja could in reality rejuvenate all the muzrai temples since nearly “95 per cent of them are defunct”.
The order said, “All muzrai temples to conduct a puja every morning in the name of the Chief Minister and the BJP Government for peace and well-being of the State.”
Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Shobha Karandlaje and Home Minister V.S. Acharya said the circular had been issued without the knowledge of the Chief Minister. The Government, on Wednesday, transferred Commissioner for Religious and Charitable Endowment T. Sham Bhat and posted him as Executive Member and Chief Executive Officer, Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board.
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