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Karnataka BJP leaders stage protest against MUDA 'scam', detained
The BJP workers attempted to lay siege to the MUDA office, but were detained and whisked away by the police in a bus.
BJP on Friday staged a protest in Mysuru against alleged fraudulent allotment of sites to land losers by Mysuru Urban Development Authority, which involves plots given to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi.
They demanded allocation of sites to the poor by withdrawing from those who were distributed "illegally", a CBI probe into the "scam", and Siddaramaiah's resignation as the allegations are against the chief minister and his family.
The BJP workers attempted to lay siege to the MUDA office, but were detained and whisked away by the police in a bus.
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They included several BJP leaders, including Leader of Opposition R Ashoka, former Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan, Mysuru MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar.
Earlier, in a bid to elude the police, Ashoka and Ashwath Narayan reportedly came to the palace city of Mysuru in a goods carrier.
"Opposition has the right to protest in a democracy, but even that is being scuttled. We have come here in a goods carrier that is used to carry vegetables, hiding from the police. Our intention is to bring out the big scam, get justice for people, and demand CM's resignation," Ashoka said.
Earlier in the day, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and other BJP leaders, who were on their way to Mysuru to take part in the protest, were detained and whisked away by police in a bus on the Mysuru road near Kengeri in Bengaluru, even as they sought to resist police action.
They shouted slogans against the government.
"The Congress government is indulging in oppression. The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government doesn't have the strength to stop our protest. In the days ahead from every corner of the state our BJP workers will come and lay a siege in Mysuru, and also Bengaluru. They have stopped us today, but our protest will continue," Vijayendra said.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders and party workers too staged a protest against BJP in Mysuru.
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 the MUDA.
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The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where MUDA developed a residential layout.
The controversial scheme envisages allotting 50 per cent of developed land to the person losing the property in lieu of undeveloped land acquired for forming layouts.
Denying the allegations, Siddaramaiah on Thursday alleged that he was unnecessarily being targeted in the case.
Claiming that a conspiracy is being hatched against him out of heartburn as he belongs to a backward class community and has become the chief minister for a second time, Siddaramaiah asserted that he won't fear such moves by the BJP.
