Zameer Ahmed’s ministerial oath lands him in a

First-time MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan is findinghimself in the thick of a controversy over the oath ofoffice and secrecy he took during his induction intothe coalition Ministry in Karnataka on Wednesday.
If the JD (S) legislator from Chamarajapet inBangalore has incurred the wrath of pro-Kannadaoutfits for taking the oath of office and secrecy inEnglish language, the Opposition leaders have pouredscorn over his decision to take oath in the name ofChief Minister H D Kumaraswamy in gross violation ofconstitutional norms.
Several pro-Kannada activists staged a demonstrationin front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Bangaloreyesterday and urged the Chief Minister to drop ZameerAhmed Khan from the coalition Ministry for the“insult” he meted out to Kannada by taking oath inEnglish.
The Kannada Protection Forum has contended that ZameerAhmed Khan’s decision to take oath in Kannada amountedto “insulting” the Kannada personalities residing inChamarajapet, who had championed the cause of Kannada.
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s political detractorshave taken offense against the newly inducted Ministerfor taking oath in the name of H D Kumaraswamy andtouching his feet after being sworn in as a Ministerin the coalition Government.
All India ProgressiveJanata Dal (AIPJD) leader A K Subbaiah has takenserious exception to the “sycophancy and servility”displayed by Zameer Ahmed Khan and questioned themotive behind Kumaraswamy’s decision to induct the JD(S) legislator, who is a transport magnate owning afleet of private buses.
Zameer Ahmed Khan’s oath-taking figured even in theproceedings of the Legislative Council when rebel BJPleader Mukhyamantri Chandru said the coalitionGovernment owed the people of the state an apology forinducting a person in the Ministry, who was “ignorant”of Kannada.
It may be mentioned here that Zameer Ahmed Khan hadcreated a ripple during the swearing in ceremony onWednesday when he deviated from the convention oftaking oath in Kannada and in the name of God. He tookoath in English in the name of his mother and ChiefMinister H D Kumaraswamy.