Health Minister is safe for now

With the Chief Minister not likely to fire B Sriramulu, the latter plans to return to Bangalore to 'attend to his duty' at long last

With the Chief Minister not likely to fire B Sriramulu, the latter plans to return to Bangalore to 'attend to his duty' at long last

Following a truce between Chief Minister Yeddyurappa and tourism minister G Janardhana Reddy, it seems that health minister B Sriramulu's 'vrata' to appease Saturn, and his subsequent padayatra away from work, has paid off.
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His post is secure for now, and though he claims that he is back on the job, whether his department will start functioning after a gap of almost a month remains to be seen.

At loggerheads

Sriramulu had been in the line of fire for more reasons than one. He is considered the Man Friday for Reddy, and was about to be sacked by the chief minister, who had for long been at loggerheads with the tourism minister.

Health minister B Sriramulu on his padayatra all the way to Bellary

"I was not ignoring my department's work while I was on the yatra," said Sriramulu. "With the dengue menace looming large, I will return to Bangalore to take stock," he added.

Sriramulu then launched the Bellary Swabhimana Yatra, claiming that it was in protest of the Congress' Bangalore-Bellary march, which in turn was a protest by the opposition party demanding a CBI probe into illegal mining.

Man in black

Sriramulu had tonsured his head and wore black, pledging that he would live a hermit's life and walk barefoot all the way to Bellary, where he would hold a massive rally on August 8, a day before the Congress' rally.

However, it was widely held that with this rally, Sriramulu was actually trying to send a strong message to the CM.

For the health minister, it was a rather unhealthy development as the Opposition now had reason to blame him for neglecting office.

As if that was not enough, a group of MLAs led by Excise Minister Renukacharya, reportedly instigated by the Yeddyurappa camp, castigated Sriramulu for launching the yatra when the state was reeling under a dengue epidemic.

"Sriramulu was about to be sacked when the rapprochement happened between Yeddyurappa and Reddy," said a BJP leader.
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"At least, for the time being, the chief minister is obliged to follow the high command's diktat and the members of the Reddy camp are safe," he added.

Reddy met the CM at his residence on Wednesday. They are understood to have come to a temporary agreement till a series of rallies organised by the BJP across the state are over.

A separate communiqu ufffd stated that Sriramulu and Reddy would attend to government work from Thursday when the health minister will meet his department's officials to take stock of the situation.

Reddy will sign development projects for Bellary on Friday.