MUDA row: BJP says too late for Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to protect his seat and it is a question of time before he quits

BJP State President B. Y. Vijayendra terms return of all the 14 sites allotted by MUDA to CM’s wife as a ‘political drama’ to escape legal hurdles and to gain sympathy

Terming Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife’s decision to return all the 14 sites allotted by Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) as a ‘political drama’ to escape legal hurdles, the opposition BJP said it is too late for him to protect his post.  

Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru on October 1, BJP State President B. Y. Vijayendra demanded immediate resignation of the Chief Minister on the ground that returning of the sites has only ‘proved’ that they had been allotted illegally. He maintained that it is now a question of time before the Chief Minister quits, as the case has reached ‘a decisive stage’.

“The decision to return the sites has been taken at this juncture only to escape from the legal hurdles and to gain sympathy. With this, the CM has also admitted that there were irregularities in the process of allotment,” Mr. Vijayendra argued. 

“The return of the sites has proved that the CM has now admitted to the offence though he had remained adamant by claiming that he would not cow down. His efforts to hush up the case by sending his close aide and Minister Bhyrathi Suresh to Mysuru to hold a meeting with officials, and attempts to politicise the case by saying that complaints are politically motivated have failed to protect him,” he alleged. 

Return of sites by children of BJP leader

Mr. Vijayendra released an old video of 2011 in which Mr. Siddaramaiah, who was then leader of the opposition, arguing that return of sites by the children of the then Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa had only shown that there were irregularities in their allotment.

The BJP State president demanded that the CM should tender an apology before quitting to Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot for launching an attack on him for granting permission to conduct a probe into alleged irregularities in allotment of sites by MUDA. 

Alleging that the CM’s followers were trying to intimidate social activist Snehamayi Krishna, who has filed a private complaint against the CM before the Governor and various other authorities, including the ED, he urged Home Minister Parameshwara and DG&IGP of Karnataka to provide adequate security to the social activist. 

Describing irregularities in MUDA as being grave, he said there were two parts to them. “While one was the allotment of 14 alternative sites to the CM’s wife, another was allotment of over 5,000 sites worth thousands of crores to the followers of the CM,” he alleged. 

He termed return of the sites by the CM’s wife as the result of pressure built by the BJP and JD(S) and their campaigns, including the Mysuru Chalo padayatra. 

Meeting of Deputy CM and Home Minister

Mr. Vijayendra claimed that several Congress leaders are waiting for the CM to quit. “I have got information that Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar and Home Minister G. Parameshwara, who met recently, felt that they can no longer defend the CM, as it was embarrassing the party.”

Published - October 01, 2024 01:28 pm IST