BBMP chief wants to quit

Is BBMP’s hot seat too hot to handle? It certainly appears so. BBMP commissioner Bharat Lal Meena has written to chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, requesting to be moved out of BBMP, sources privy to the communiqué told DNA. This is happening within seven months after the former BBMP chief, S Subramanya, was shunted out of the post following a boy’s drowning in the drains during a heavy downpour on May 31, 2009.

Yeddyurappa is yet to take a decision, but there are clear signs that Meena is not interested in continuing in the post and wants to be relieved as BBMP commissioner. Meena is likely to be placed in the urban development department as its principal secretary, sources in that department said. This may happen soon as the state election commission on Friday withdrew the civic poll code of conduct with the elections not likely to happen as per schedule.

There are several reasons behind Meena wanting to be relieved, sources in BBMP said. Meena, who is considered to be a top-notch officer in the state cadre, is fed up with recent developments, including allegations against him on the overnight tender scam, and with former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy’s accusation that he had bribed to get the coveted post of BBMP commissioner.

He is also upset with the joint commissioners and engineers for not keeping pace with him when it comes to delivering the goods, sources said. Interestingly, Meena’s letter to the chief minister was issued a few weeks ago – well ahead of Supreme Court vacating the stay on the high court order to force the state government to postpone the BBMP elections. Now, Meena is proceeding on a 20-day leave from February 7. This means, if the civic polls were on schedule on February 21, Meena would not have been at work as he applied for the leave much before any decision on postponement of the civic polls had been taken.