Amidst the ongoing Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment controversy, veteran BJP leader BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday asked Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to resign “respectfully” before the court delivers its verdict on the Governor’s sanction to prosecute him.
Yediyurappa, a former Chief Minister claimed that Siddaramaiah’s resignation was inevitable.
“After the court verdict, a situation will arise where Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will have to resign one hundred percent. I advise him to resign respectfully before the court verdict comes. As all the scams he is involved in are proven, there is no chance for him to escape. Let’s see what happens,” Yediyurappa remarked.
Siddaramaiah, other ministers and the ruling Congress have all rubbished the allegations of irregularities in the land allotment process.
Yediyurappa, however, stated, “There is no need for any more fight; things have reached a final stage, and naturally, a situation will come for him to resign.”
The Karnataka High Court has extended the interim stay on trial court proceedings against Siddaramaiah in the MUDA case until September 9 and postponed the hearing on the Chief Minister’s petition challenging the legality of Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s sanction for prosecution.
The Governor granted permission on August 16 under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, based on complaints filed by Pradeep Kumar S P, T J Abraham, and Snehamayi Krishna. Siddaramaiah filed a petition in the High Court on August 19, questioning the legality of the Governor’s order.
In response to speculations that the Cabinet might decide to file a criminal case based on the report of an inquiry commissionled by retired Karnataka High Court Justice John Michael D’Cunha on alleged irregularities in Covid-19 management during the BJP’s tenure, Yediyurappa said, “There is no meaning to it. They are free to make any decision. We will face it within the framework of the law.”
The so-called MUDA scam involves allegations of improper allocation of compensatory residential sites by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority. The controversy primarily revolves around land previously owned by Parvathi Siddaramaiah, wife of the Chief Minister. In 2021, Parvathi was allotted 38,283 square feet of residential plots in Vijayanagar, a prime area in Mysuru, after MUDA acquired her 3-acre land in Kesare village, Mysuru.
The controversy escalated when Urban Development Minister Byrati Suresh transferred four MUDA officials, including MUDA Commissioner Dinesh Kumar, following RTI revelations that raised concerns about land allocations in the Devanur layout, linked to Siddaramaiah’s wife.
Critics, especially from the BJP, argue that the market value of the plots allotted in Vijayanagar far exceeds that of the original land in Kesare, fueling accusations of a significant scam. UNI BDN SSP
