Karnataka Govt School Teacher Suspended For Sharing Facebook Post Critical Of CM Siddaramaiah

It is alleged that Shantha Murthy MG shared a post against Siddaramaiah, made by Hm Rajashekhar Hiremath, on the day Siddaramaiah was sworn in for his second term as the Chief Minister on May 20.

A government school teacher has been temporarily removed from duty for supposedly reposting critical content about Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's previous administration from 2013 to 2018, which accused him of overloading the state with debts, on his Facebook profile, news agency PTI reported.

It is alleged that Shantha Murthy MG shared a post against Siddaramaiah, made by Hm Rajashekhar Hiremath, on the day Siddaramaiah was sworn in for his second term as the Chief Minister on May 20.

Hiremath allegedly wrote in his post, “Siddaramaiah who sank the state with maximum debts has come back again to further sink it in loans.” 

As per the Facebook post, S M Krishna acquired a loan of Rs 3,590 crore during his time as Chief Minister, while Dharam Singh borrowed Rs 15,635 crore, HDK took Rs 3,545 crore, B S Yediyurappa borrowed Rs 25,653 crore, D V Sadananda Gowda took Rs 9,464 crore, Jagadish Shettar took Rs 13,464 crore, and “Siddaramaiah Rs 2.42 lakh crore!” "The total loan amount from S M Krishna to Jagadish Shettar is Rs 71,331 crore. Debts by Siddu (Siddaramaiah) is Rs 2.42 lakh crore. What else will happen with his freebies ‘Bhagya’?” the post reads.

Slamming Siddaramaiah, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya tweeted: “A teacher of a state run lower primary school in Karnataka has been suspended for his FB posts criticising CM Siddaramaiah for his policies. He merely pointed out that latter could promise so many freebies because the state’s debt always rose when he helmed the Govt. Truth hurt?”

In response, Congress tweeted: “We value democracy and freedom of expression. However, sowing hatred in the society, spreading fake news, disrupting harmony and abusing on social media will not be tolerated. Our government has taken a strict stance on this and action will be taken without hesitation.”

The Discipline Authority and Block Education Officer of the Department of Public Instruction, L Jayappa, issued a suspension order on May 20th for Shantha Murthy due to his violation of the Karnataka Civil Service (Conduct) Rules-1966.