Siddaramaiah ‘insulting’ civil servants come under public scrutiny

Three recent incidents of alleged “insult” meted out to senior civil servants in different circumstances by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah have come under public scrutiny.

Besides them, Mr. Siddaramaiah giving instructions “rudely” to senior civil servants at public functions has also not gone down well with many officials. They argue that it has lowered their morale.

The ‘slap’ incident

The most recent instances that have drawn ire were those of the Chief Minister “trying to slap” a police officer in Belagavi, publicly reprimanding Vijayanagara Deputy Commissioner M.S. Diwakar for sitting next to a seer on stage at an event in Hosapete and blaming police officers for the stampede at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Additional Superintendent of Police (Dharwad) Narayan Baramani’s request for voluntary retirement from the police service citing “public humiliation” to him by Mr. Siddaramaiah during the Congress’ event in Belagavi on April 28 has caused a major embarrassment to the Chief Minister.

Speaking to a private TV channel, Jyothi Prakash Mirji, former Bangalore Police Commissioner, termed it the “biggest mistake” by Mr. Siddaramaiah. The public conduct of the Chief Minister was not good and other politicians follow Mr. Siddaramaiah, he said. Incidentally, Mr. Baramani was persuaded to rejoin duty on Thursday.

‘Not civilised action’

Commenting on these recent developments, a ruling party legislator said, “these are not civilised actions” of the Chief Minister and one “should not display power and arrogance in public events.”

Some contrasted it with former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna’s public conduct, saying he not only took civil servants into confidence but also ensured long tenure at postings in several departments.

Another action that drew criticism from former Bengaluru City Police Commissioners, Mr. Mirji, Bhaskar Rao, and N.S. Megharik, and historian Ramachandra Guha was the suspension of police officers for the stampede in the city.

The Central Administrative Tribunal quashing the suspension of Vikash Kumar Vikash, who as Additional Commissioner of Police (West) then, is seen as a setback for Mr. Siddaramaiah.

In January 2025, Mr. Siddaramaiah had sparked another controversy after he publicly reprimanded Vijayanagara Deputy Commissioner Mr. Diwakar for sitting next to a seer on the stage at an event in Hosapete.

The Chief Minister questioned the officer’s presence by the side of the seer and instructed him to move, citing protocol concerns. The Chief Minister’s instruction in a “rude” tone to the Deputy Commissioner faced criticism.

Seized by Opposition

These incidents have been seized by the Opposition to criticise the government. Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashok hit out at Mr Siddaramaiah, saying that “the attempt to slap the police officer on the public stage has demoralised the police force”.

He said it showed a Chief Minister “intoxicated by power and frustrated at leading a failed government”.

He claimed that such incidents had “brought down the morale of the entire Police Department” and “ hurt the self-confidence of the bureaucracy”.