Here are the big stories from Karnataka today

Karnataka Today newsletter: BJP to demand resignation of CM Siddaramaiah over MUDA scam, and more

Escalating pressure on Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the opposition BJP is set to stage a protest in his home district of Mysuru on July 12 demanding his resignation in connection with alleged irregularities in Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and a CBI probe. 

The BJP is also considering petitioning Election Commission of India as Mr. Siddaramaiah’s affidavit in the 2013 Assembly elections did not mention anything about his wife possessing 3.16 acres of land that was given to MUDA though the gift deed in this regard had been executed in 2009-10. 

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) simultaneously searched over 20 premises linked to two ruling Congress MLAs — Ballari Rural MLA B. Nagendra and Raichur Rural MLA Basanagouda Daddal — in the alleged scam at the State-run Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation where funds up to ₹88 crore were allegedly embezzled.

Ballari Rural MLA B. Nagendra, an accused in the case, resigned as minister for Scheduled Tribes Welfare on June 6 in connection with the alleged scam. Raichur Rural MLA Basanagouda Daddal, who is Chairman of the corporation, is a suspect. Till date, the SIT has arrested 11 persons and seized ₹14.5 crore in connection with the alleged scam.

Thanks to poor waterproofing of the roof, students of the Valmiki Ashrama Shaale at Hagare in Belur taluk of Hassan are a miserable lot during the monsoon. Amid a leaking roof, peeling ceiling, wet floor, and drenched walls that intensify the cold, the children and staff get through the monsoon hoping that no wall collapses.

When The Hindu visited the residential school, which is meant for children of tribal communities, earlier this week, three of the nine classrooms were locked. The staff said the classrooms remain closed as the cement plastering has been peeling off. Staff do not hold classes in those three rooms to protect students from any untoward incident.

The Karnataka High Court on July 10 took suo motu cognisance of the spread of dengue across the State based on a letter to the editor written by a reader of an English newspaper, and reports on dengue published in various other newspapers.