MUDA scam: Siddaramaiah refuses to resign as Karnataka CM, says Union minister HD Kumaraswamy ’is on bail’

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is facing probe in MUDA ‘scam’ case, refused to resign on Friday. He took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Centre, saying that HD Kumaraswamy, a minister in the Union Cabinet, “is on bail after an FIR was lodged against him”.

Siddaramaiah accused the BJP of attempting to “destabilise” the Congress-run Karnataka government.

“It’s a politics by them [BJP] to destabilise our government, that’s why they are doing it. They tried Operation Lotus, but they failed because we are 136 legislators. They formed government without a mandate twice, did Yediyurappa win? We will fight it legally,” Siddaramaiah was quoted by news agency ANI as saying on Friday.

Siddaramaiah had earlier told reporters, “….did the Prime Minister [Narendra Modi as the then Gujarat CM] resign in the Godhra incident as FIR was done [then]? [HD] Kumaraswamy [JDS leader] is in Narendra Modi’s government, he is on bail, has he given resignation?”

“Have they given resignation? Are they not embarrassed? I will not resign. I will fight legally,” Siddaramaiah was quoted by PTI as saying on Thursday.

Siddaramaiah’s comments came after the BJP demanded his resignation over MUDA scam case. The case pertains to the alleged illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife BM Parvathi by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

In the MUDA site allotment case, it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah’s wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been “acquired” by MUDA, news agency PTI reported.

On Wednesday, a special court in Bengaluru ordered a probe by the Lokayukta police in Mysuru against the Chief Minister in the MUDA site allotment ‘scam’, setting the stage for registering an FIR against him.