By Ananya Varma
Months after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stirred controversy after he gestured to slap the Additional Superintendent of Police at his rally in Belagavi, Narayan Baramani has sought voluntary retirement from service. According to Baramani, Siddaramaiah, Home Minister G Parameshwara, and higher officials spoke to him. He did not comment on the episode and the status of his VRS, citing that he is in a disciplined department, but his purported letter states that he had “no option left” after the “public humiliation.” “As I’m in a disciplined department, I have shared my feelings with my higher officials. The Chief Minister, Home Minister, and higher officials have spoken to me in this regard. I’m attending duty,” Baramani told reporters, PTI reported. In his letter seeking VRS, he reportedly writes, “Having been publicly insulted and humiliated by the behaviour of the Chief Minister on a public platform for a mistake I did not commit, I have no other option but to seek voluntary retirement.” ‘Congress government bringing down morale of police force’: BJP Sharing the contents of the letter, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka, in a post on ‘X’, on Thursday, alleged that the morale of the police department has been damaged by the Congress government. “Whether the incident in which you raised your hand at Additional SP Narayan Baramani on a public platform was due to your arrogance of power or frustration at leading a failed government, or with a feeling that you will have to relinquish power soon, I will leave that to your introspection,” he told Siddaramaiah. “But your action has damaged the self-respect of a dutiful officer. It has brought down the morale of the entire police department. It has hurt the morality of the bureaucracy, and the self-confidence of the workforce has collapsed,” he added. Also Read: WATCH: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s Shocking Slap Gesture At Senior Cop In Belagavi Rally What had happened? In the video from his April rally, Siddaramaiah can be seen summoning the police officer onto the stage. He addressed him, asking, “Come here, who is the SP? What are you doing?” The Chief Minister can then be seen making a gesture by raising his hand at the officer out of frustration, but withdraws it immediately, and subsequently, instructs him to remove the people who are creating the disturbance. The Karnataka CM was addressing the “Samvidhan Bachao and Anti Price Rise Rally” that was attended by a host of Congress leaders and ministers of his cabinet. He was reportedly upset after a group of people, allegedly BJP workers, tried to disrupt his speech. The disruption was allegedly caused by workers of the saffron party, who were sloganeering against the state government and the chief minister over his remarks in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.