Congress targets Karnataka minister for posting pool photos during lockdown

Sudhakar K, who is in charge of COVID-19 response team in Karnataka, had posted a picture on social media on April 12 of him spending time with his children in a swimming pool but later deleted the post.

By: Express Web Desk

Bengaluru, Delhi | Updated: April 13, 2020 03:40 PM IST

3 min read

Sudhakar had posted a picture on social media on April 12 of him spending time with his children in a swimming pool but later deleted the post.

Accusing him of “irresponsible behaviour”, Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar Monday sought the resignation of state Minister for Medical Education Sudhakar K after the latter posted a picture of him in a swimming pool with his children during the coronavirus lockdown.

Sudhakar, a medical doctor by qualification and the Medical Education Minister in the Karnataka government, is in charge of all matters relating to COVID-19 in the state. He had posted a picture on social media on April 12 of him spending time with his children in a swimming pool but later deleted the post.

Shivakumar, meanwhile, took to Twitter to share a screen of the the deleted post and sought his resignation. “When the whole world is going through a health crisis, the Corona in-charge Minister Dr Sudhakar is behaving irresponsibly by spending time in a swimming pool. It’s a matter of moral & ethical standards. He must resign out of his own accord & CM should sack him from the cabinet,” he tweeted.

His statement comes even as COVID-19 positive cases in Karnataka rose to 232 on Monday with 6 people succumbing to the disease.

Sudhakar was among the Congress MLAs who had quit the party fold and joined the BJP to topple the Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka last year. He was chosen as the representative of COVID-19 related matters in Karnataka. His senior in the state health ministry, B Sriramulu, was given charge of the health ministry minus responsibilities for the COVID-19 crisis.

Toeing the line of other states, Karnataka has extended the lockdown till April 30 to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. After a four-hour-long video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said that the lockdown in the state will continue till April 30 but relaxations will be allowed in a graded manner.

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