Karnataka government on May 19, 2026, issued an order transferring Nagaraja N.M. from the post of Deputy Commissioner of Chikkamagaluru — just four and a half months after he assumed charge. The unusually short tenure has triggered widespread speculation about the reasons behind the move. He had taken charge as DC of the district on January 1 this year.

Nagaraja has been replaced by Bhanwar Singh Meena, a 2017-batch IAS officer who was serving as Chief Executive Officer of Kalaburagi Zilla Panchayat. Nagaraja himself has been posted as Ombudsman of the Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society in Bengaluru.

When The Hindu reached out to Nagaraja, he said he would comply with the government’s order and made clear he had no intention of challenging the transfer in court.

Speculation is rife that the transfer is linked to recent developments surrounding the recounting of postal ballots in the Sringeri constituency. Following the recount, BJP candidate D.N. Jeevaraj was declared the winner, but Congress candidate T.D. Raje Gowda moved the Supreme Court, which ruled in his favour and restored him as MLA.