Everyone feels bad when power has to be handed over. The same was the case for H D Kumaraswamy who had to resign as chief minister of Karnataka after his government had been reduced to a minority.
Kumaraswamy, who was in power for the past 20 months, had his own way of thanking his bureaucrats and staff before he stepped down -- 300 senior engineers transferred, 100 engineers were promoted, 25 Karnataka Administrative Service officials and 65 Deputy Superintendents of Police were given transfer letters as per their liking.
The shocking aspect is that all the transfers and promotions were carried out after the Bharatiya Janata Party had withdrawn support, reducing the Kumaraswamy-led Janata Dal (Secular) government to minority status.
Kumaraswamy was not alone in doling out favours to his pet officials.
Kumaraswamy's brother H D Revanna, who was the Public Works Department minister, was equally generous. After the BJP parted ways with the government, Revanna effected the transfer of 300 senior engineers in his department.
Besides this, nearly 100 engineers in the PWD, Water Resources and Panchayati Raj departments were promoted after the JDS government