MUDA scam: BJP plans protest in Mysuru on July 12 demanding resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and CBI probe

The opposition party will demand the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities.

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 records show that Chief Minister’s wife Parvathamma got 3.16 acres of land through a gift deed from her brother in 2009-10. But interestingly, Mr. Siddaramaiah did not mention this in his affidavit before the EC while contesting the Assembly elections in 2013. We are consulting legal experts to know the possibility of filing a petition in this regard before the EC, as it is a clear violation of norms related to People’s Representatives Act and poll norms,” BJP State president B. Y. Vijayendra told a press conference in Bengaluru where he released documents in support of the party’s charges. 

He alleged irregularities amounting to around ₹4,000 crore in MUDA with the involvement of the Chief Minister in the form of illegal allotment of alternative sites. On June 15 this year, he alleged, a person had been illegally allotted 42 alternative sites. 

He demanded that such illegal allotment of alternative sites be withdrawn, and these sites should be given to poor and deserving people. 

He accused the CM’s close aide and Urban Development Minister Bhyrathi Suresh of trying to hush up the episode by carrying away all the related files from the MUDA office. Only a CBI probe could bring out the truth, he maintained. 

The BJP would begin to highlight this alleged scam from Mysuru by staging a protest in the city on July 12. Leader of Opposition R. Ashok and former deputy chief minister Dr. C. N. Ashwath Narayan are expected to participate.