CM Siddaramaiah 'disappears' for an hour; sets tongues wagging

Mysuru, Mar 2: Chief Minister?Siddaramaiah, on Sunday, disappeared for over one hour, leaving behind his security personnel, in a tizzy.

Around 8.45 am, the chief minister — accompanied by his trusted aide and former Mysuru Zilla Panchayat president K?Marigowda and personal assistant Kumar — left his T?K?Layout residence to an undisclosed location. Siddaramaiah preferred to travel in Marigowda’s multi-utility vehicle, instead of his official vehicle and security personnel in tow. At 10.10 am, the pilot and escort party and the security personnel got a message from that side to join the chief minister at Andolana Circle, one stop away from his residence. He, later, left towards the inaugural function of an hospital at Vijayanagar through the outer-ring road junction.

Sources told Deccan Herald, Siddaramaiah had gone to settle a dispute between two communities at a village in Jayapura police limits (though the Jayapura police denied any such incidents in the recent past), that had resurfaced recently. Marigowda was caught in a soup and had sought?CM’s help in solving it, was another version.

Unwilling to take a risk, a gunman who has been serving Siddaramaiah from the past several years, learnt about the location later and left for that place.

However, according to another source, it is nothing new as Siddaramaiah prefers to be with his friends during his visit to the city.

Dalit?CM

However, a confirmed source told Deccan Herald, a leader — who regularly calls on Siddaramaiah during his visit to the city, especially at his house — brought the issue of Dalit CM campaign in Mysuru, only to irritate Siddaramaiah.?Siddaramaiah spoke in an angered tone, before making a hurried exit towards that unknown location.