The Empire strikes back

Srivastava shunted out of Metro
Deccan Herald

Mr Srivastava is to be replaced by Mr V Madhu, who is now on Central deputation as Joint Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat. Prior to his Delhi posting, Mr Madhu had served as MD, KPTCL, and Commissioner, Commercial Taxes.

For Mr K N Srivastava, Tuesday, till late in the evening, was a very busy day in New Delhi. The Managing Director of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) had finalised a note on the Metro project to be placed before the Union Cabinet.

He had invited Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy to address a press conference next week, and even got the ball rolling to get the prime minister set the foundation for the project on April 1 in Bangalore.

But before Mr Srivastava could reach Delhi airport in the evening, he received a call from the BMRC office that literally stopped him in his tracks: He was transferred from the BMRC with no posting.

Mr Srivastava is to be replaced by Mr V Madhu, who is now on Central deputation as Joint Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat. Prior to his Delhi posting, Mr Madhu had served as MD, KPTCL, and Commissioner, Commercial Taxes.

“I am really surprised about this, it has not sunk in yet.” this was how Mr Srivastava reacted when Deccan Herald contacted him. Expressing disappointment over the manner in which the news was conveyed to him, he said: “I have put in 30 years of service, the least they could have done was to call me personally and give me my transfer orders. Instead, I first got an SMS stating that the inauguration ceremony of the new office, scheduled for 5:30 pm on Wednesday had been postponed, and this was followed by a call from the office giving me the news of my transfer”. Mr Srivastava believed that “probably the monorail lobby could have had a hand over this decision”.

When asked why Chief Minister H D Kumaaraswamy was not invited for the Bangalore Metro logo release on Monday at Raj Bhavan, he said it was decided not to turn the occasion into a political event. “I do not think the logo issue has anything to do with my transfer,” he said. However, according to Secretariat sources, the fact that Mr Kumaaraswamy was not invited for the logo release was the final straw for the chief minister, who reportedly had reservations about Mr Srivastava. “Mr Kumaaraswamy believes that the Metro project is a prestigious one. Mr Srivastava kept him out of the logo release function, which hurt the ego of the chief minister,” the sources explained.

Sources reveal that the standoff between Mr Srivastava and the Deve Gowda family has been long-standing. “Mr Srivastava had run into trouble with H D Deve Gowda when he was heading KPTCL. Mr Srivastava had transferred an executive engineer, closely related to Mr Gowda’s family. Pressure was brought on him to cancel the transfer but he did not oblige as he had the backing of the then chief minister S M Krishna,” they reveal.

OFF TRACK

A phone call stops Srivastava in his tracks

Monorail lobby hand seen

Kumaaraswamy “miffed” at not being invited to logo release

No bonding between Srivastava and Kumaaraswamy

Old spat with Gowda family surfaces