Regardless of who gave the order, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ended up facing some embarrassment on Monday, when he reportedly drove through roads on which water had been sprinkled.
Visiting Bagalkot district on Monday as a part of his tour inspecting drought-hit districts, Siddaramaiah was scheduled to visit Bilagipattana village in the morning.
He met officials of the panchayat and the district administration who briefed him about the shortage of drinking water and other drought-related issues in the area.
However, there are reports that the road to the village was sprinkled with water before the chief minister’s arrival. Video footage available with The News Minute shows a tanker being used to spray water on the road, in order to prevent dust from rising up as the chief minister’s convoy zoomed past. A policeman is also seen in the video.
Responding to this, Siddaramaiah told a Kannada news channel that he would ask district officials to take action against officials who were responsible for this, and to ensure that such an incident is not repeated in future.