Defending Siddaramaiah in MUDA row, DyCM DK Shivakumar said the CM had not sought sites as compensation in specific areas.
Published Jul 26, 2024 | 2:36 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 26, 2024 | 2:36 PM
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday, 26 July, said that instead of voicing in favour of the state, the BJP was protesting in Delhi against non-issues.
The chief minister was speaking to reporters after BJP MPs from Karnataka staged a protest against the alleged scams in the state-run Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation.
While Siddaramaiah termed it a “non-issue”, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar that the BJP protest was part of its “conspiracy” against the Congress government.
BJP MPs, including Rajya Sabha members, led by former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai staged a protest in front of the Parliament on Friday against the alleged scams.
Responding to the BJP MP’s protest Siddaramaiah told reporters that it was a non-issue but the BJP and JD(S) were making it one (issue).
“I would like to ask these MPs whether they have ever raised their voice against the injustice to Karnataka including in the recent budget. They did not raise their voice even when they had 25 MPs representing the state in the Parliament,” the chief minister said.
“Now, they have 19 MPs and won’t utter a word about the injustice to Karnataka but protesting against these issues. Karnataka has been completely neglected in the Union budget,” Siddaramaiah said.
“This is a politically motivated attempt to tarnish the chief minister’s image and project that we are meting out injustice to the Dalit community,” he added.
The chief minister further claimed that the BJP did not have any respect for the Constitution and was anti-Dalit.
#Karantaka: CM @siddaramaiah says the @BJP4Karnataka does not raise its voice in favour of #Karnataka instead protesting against non-issues in Delhi.
Responding to the BJP MP’s protest at Delhi, CM #Siddaramaiah told reporters: “It’s a non-issue but the BJP and @JanataDal_S are… pic.twitter.com/8xqhwEHE17
— South First (@TheSouthfirst) July 26, 2024
He claimed that the BJP and the JD(S) were desperate after the Congress won 135 Assembly seats and that they issued politically motivated statements due to that.
“Looking at all this, it is clear that the Opposition parties had no popular intention other than misusing the session to smear the chief minister’s personality,” he said.
He said it has been 40 years since he started his political life. “Till date I don’t have a single black spot on me. My political life is an open book,” the chief minister said.
“The BJP and the JD(S), which has lost the trust of the people, could not win more seats and votes than the previous time in the Lok Sabha elections. We got 13 percent more votes in this election than in the last Lok Sabha election. Desperate due to these developments, they have taken the wrong path to regain the trust of the people,” he said.
“Karnataka is the biggest state for the Congress party. The BJP had never thought that the Congress would win here. So they are hatching a conspiracy against the government,” Shivakumar, also the State Congress chief, told reporters in Bengaluru.
Shivakumar maintained that Siddaramaiah had not asked for sites in specific areas.
“Several people (land losers) have got alternative sites. I will not dwell into the way others obtained the alternative sites. Minister concerned will explain it and I am also gathering information. When the chief minister raised it, MUDA offered him alternative land. Whatever happened was within the framework of law,” the deputy chief minister said.
The BJP has been seeking a CBI probe in the alleged irregularities in allotting land by MUDA and a scam amounting to ₹187 crore in the Valmiki Corporation.
On Thursday, a delegation of BJP and JD(S) MLAs called upon state Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot and urged him to hand over the probe into the alleged scams to the CBI.
They also demanded the resignation of the chief minister.
The Opposition BJP and JD(S) alleged fraudulent allotment of sites to land losers by the MUDA which involves plots given to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife.
The chief minister had maintained that the MUDA had encroached on his wife’s property. When he brought the matter to the notice of MUDA officials, they allotted alternative sites in lieu of the illegal acquisition of their land.
Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil said Siddaramaiah has ordered an investigation into the irregularities in the MUDA by a retired judge of the High Court.
The illegal money transfer case in the Valmiki Corporation came to light after P Chandrashekar — accounts superintendent at the Corporation — died by suicide.
In a purported suicide note, he said some officials had pressured him to transfer crores of money to an unofficial account.
His death note revealed the unauthorised transfer of ₹187 crore belonging to the Corporation from its bank account, and from that, ₹88.62 crore was illegally moved to various accounts allegedly belonging to “well-known” IT companies and a Hyderabad-based cooperative bank.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with PTI inputs)
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