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No question of resignation: CM amid calls for him to step down
Siddaramaiah called the allegations against him as a “BJP conspiracy” and said he would wage a legal fight
A day after a special court asked Lokayukta police to investigations allegations against chief minister Siddaramaiah in Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) case, the CM reiterated on Thursday he will not resign and denied any wrongdoing in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the authority.
Siddaramaiah called the allegations against him as a “BJP conspiracy” and said he would wage a legal fight. The CM is likely to move Karnataka high court challenging the single bench high court order on Monday which allowed governor’s sanction to prosecute the chief minister, according to people familiar with the matter.
While inaugurating Knowledge Innovation and Well-being (KWIN) City, he said: “There is no question of resigning, because I have done no wrong. This (charges against him) is a BJP (conspiracy).”
He also asked whether Prime Minister (Narendra Modi as the then Gujarat CM) resign in the Godhra incident as FIR was lodged (then) and (H D) Kumaraswamy (JDS leader) is in Narendra Modi’s government, he is on bail, has he resigned?”
Siddaramaiah reiterated that he will not resign and will fight the case legally. “I won’t resign, let them get Kumaraswamy’s resignation, he is on bail. He is in whose Cabinet, in which government? He should give (resignation first). Did Narendra Modi resign? Despite hundreds of people dying, he did not resign. I have done no wrong, there is no need for me to resign,” he added.
On Wednesday, a special court ordered a probe by the Lokayukta police in Mysuru against the CM in the MUDA site allotment case, setting the stage for registering an FIR against him. The Lokayukta officials said they were studying the court order and will decide on the FIR soon.
Deputy chief minister and state Congress president DK Shivakumar also ruled out the possibility of Siddaramaiah stepping down on the issue.
On Thursday, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi statue at Vidhana Soudha demanding Siddaramaiah’s resignation. Holding placards and shouting slogans, several party lawmakers and leaders took part in the protest, led by R Ashoka and Chalavadi Narayanaswamy.
“Two court orders have come against Siddaramaiah. When we first protested inside and outside the assembly they (CM and Congress) termed it as politically motivated and when the governor order came they said it was at the behest of the BJP-led government at the centre. Now the high court and special court have given orders, they have found truth in allegations and said it needs to be investigated and the CM should resign,” Ashoka said.
Meanwhile, Shivakumar said: “I’m saying that the proposal for the chief minister to resign won’t come. This is a political conspiracy by BJP and JD(S). They are unable to digest the benefits of our five guarantee schemes reaching people.”
The order of the special court Judge, Santhosh Gajanan Bhat, came a day after the high court upheld the sanction granted by the governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot to conduct an investigation against Siddaramaiah on the allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife B M Parvathi by MUDA.
The Special Court exclusively to deal with criminal cases related to former and elected MPs/MLAs issued the order directing the Lokayukta police in Mysuru to initiate an investigation on the complaint filed by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna of Mysuru.
In the MUDA site allotment case, it has been 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.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout. Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts. It is alleged that Parvathi had no legal title over this 3.16 acres of land at survey number 464 of Kasare village, Kasaba hobli of Mysuru taluk.
(With PTI inputs)
