Siddaramaiah innocent, BJP doing political drama: DK Shivakumar on MUDA scam

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, August 20, 2024: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has vowed to back Chief Minister Siddaramaiah amid pressure from the BJP to resign in the alleged MUDA (Mysuru Urban Development Authority) land scam. In an exclusive interview with India Today TV, Shivakumar said the Congress party is "100 per cent" with the Chief Minister and that there is "no evidence to prove" Siddaramaih has done anything wrong.

"There is no question of resignation. The law of the country will protect my Chief Minister. There is no evidence to prove that my Chief Minister has done anything wrong...This is purely a political drama (by the BJP) that is going on," Shivakumar told India Today TV.

The Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister further stated that he is "not worried" about becoming the Chief Minister. "It’s up to the high command’s will," Shivakumar said.

Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot on Saturday granted permission to prosecute Siddaramaih in the alleged MUDA scam. The move followed a complaint filed by RTI activist TJ Abraham, who flagged the ’MUDA scam’. Speaking on the matter, Shivakumar said that the former should have waited for the report of the commission investigating the alleged scam before giving his nod to prosecute the Karnataka Chief Minister.

This came after the Governor, on July 26, issued a show cause notice to Siddaramaiah, seeking an explanation from him on the alleged scam. Prior to this, he had also sought information from the Chief Secretary.

Shivakumar also spoke about Karnataka Congress writing to President Droupadi Murmu to talk to the Governor to take back the prosecution order. "Even I have been requesting the President, appealing to the President, to talk to the Governor," he added.

The Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister repeated the Congress’s support for Siddaramaiah, saying from "Mallikarjun Kharge - the President of the party - to the booth worker, all are with Chief Minister".

Following the Karnataka Governor’s sanction order to prosecute Siddaramaiah, Congress highlighted the delay in a similar direction in the case of Union Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy in a mining scam.

"The BJP wants to do politics, and they want to divide the party...Kumaraswamy will backstab the BJP also. He’s dictating terms to the BJP now," Shivakumar told India Today TV, calling the saffron side "cunning foxes of the state".

Notably, JD(S) is the BJP’s ally in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

"BJP trying to destabilise the government. They tried to poach MLAs," the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister said.

The scam consists of charges of irregularities in land allotments by the MUDA. It is alleged that Parvathi Siddaramaiah, wife of Siddaramaiah, benefitted from these irregularities.

The case dates back to 2021 when the MUDA acquired Parvathi Siddaramaiah’s 3-acre plot in Kesare village, Mysuru, for development. In return, she was allocated other plots in a posh area of south Mysuru. The market value of the posh plots is significantly higher than that of her original land in Kesare.