Watch your step Mr Chief Minister. That’s the message from Union home minister P. Chidambaram to B.S. Yeddyurappa.
Two days after the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) rejected Governor H.R. Bhardwaj’s recommendation for imposition of President’s rule, Mr Chidambaram took the unusual initiative on Tuesday to dispatch an advisory to Chief Minister Yeddyurappa on the need to tackle corruption, illegal mining and atrocities against minorities on a war-footing.
It is unusual because Central advisories are generally sent by the Union home secretary to the state’s chief secretary or lower-rung officers, not by the Union home minister to the state CM.
Not surprisingly, chief secretary S.V. Ranganth, when contacted, told Deccan Chronicle that he had not received any advisory till late on Tuesday evening.
Official sources played down the significance of the advisory.
“If the advisory was sent under Article 355, one could have interpreted that the Centre had censured the state government. Since it is general in nature, it cannot be a source of embarrassment for the government,” sources said.