Bengaluru, February 14 BJP leader R Ashoka on Saturday alleged that a retired monk was promoted despite having voluntarily retired.
Sri Nischalanandanatha Swamiji is the successor (Peetadhipathi) of the Vishwa Vokkaliga Mahasamsthana Math.
Ashoka accused the Congress government of gross administrative negligence after a retired officer's name allegedly appeared in a recent promotion order issued by the state.
The state government had issued an official order granting promotions to 20 Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) officers, elevating several senior-grade officials, he said.
The list reportedly included the name of H L Nagaraj, now known as Sri Nischalanandanatha Swamiji, who had taken voluntary retirement from service, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, claimed.
"In a Congress government riddled with errors, even a retired officer gets a promotion!" Ashoka said in a post on 'X'.
Sharing the government order on his 'X' handle along with the photograph of the pontiff, he charged that the inefficiency had reached "the level of granting the 'fortune of promotion' even to someone who has voluntarily retired from service, donned saffron robes and become a pontiff!"
Alleging serious lapses in record-keeping, Ashoka said, "Even though an officer has retired from service, embraced 'Sanyasa' and is leading a spiritual life, in your government records he is still shown as an 'officer in service'!"