MUDA ‘scam’: CM Siddaramaiah fumes at Governor’s prosecution nod, says ‘will wage a legal fight’

The Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, on Saturday, sanctioned the prosecution of Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment ‘scam’. Following the directive, the Karnataka Chief Minister alleged, “The conspiracy is being done by the central government, BJP, JDS and local leaders of Karnataka.”

CM Siddaramaiah accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of ‘not tolerating this government, my leadership’.

Stating that such a decision by the Karnataka Governor was expected, Siddaramaiah said, “We had expected this, I too had expected this. When the Governor on July 26, the very day he received the petition, issued me a show cause notice. What does it mean?”

“High command (of Congress) is with me, the entire Cabinet and the government is with me. All Congress MLAs, MLCs, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members are with me….I have done no wrong to resign,” Siddaramaiah asserted.

The BJP demanded immediate resignation of Siddaramaiah to enable an ‘impartial’ probe into the MUDA ‘scam’. However, Siddaramaiah ruled out his resignation claiming he had done no wrong to step down.

“Because this (Congress) government has implemented all the guarantee schemes. These guarantee schemes are for poor people of all communities, all religions. So the central government is against social justice, poor people and our guarantees”, Siddaramaiah claimed on Saturday.

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“I will fight it legally in the court because this is an illegal approval given by the Governor who is a puppet of the central government…” terming Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s decision as “anti-Constitution and against law”, the Karnataka CM said.

The Karnataka Governor has accorded sanction against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for the commission of the alleged offences as mentioned in the petitions of Pradeep Kumar S P, T J Abraham and Snehamayi Krishna.

What is the MUDA ‘Scam’?

The Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), originally established as the City Improvement Trust Board (CITB) in 1904 during the Mysuru Maharajas’ reign, has recently faced intense scrutiny. Media reports have highlighted serious irregularities in how MUDA has allotted residential sites to land losers as compensation.

Amid the controversy, Parvathi Siddaramaiah, wife of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has come under the spotlight. She was reportedly allocated 14 residential sites in a high-end development area in exchange for her 3 acres and 16 guntas of land acquired by MUDA.

While Siddaramaiah and Congress officials argue that the site allocation followed the legally sanctioned 50:50 ratio scheme intended to compensate land losers, much to the chagrin of the Karnataka Opposition, the BJP and JD(S) have seized on this issue to criticize the ruling Congress.