Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah questioned the moral authority of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former CM B S Yediyurappa to seek his resignation from the CM’s post over the alleged Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam at a time when he, too, was embroiled in a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act case.
The BJP leader had demanded that Siddaramaiah resign by August 10 on moral grounds, given the growing allegations of MUDA’s Mysuru land allocations to his wife. “If Yediyurappa has any self-respect, he must retire from politics. He is 82 and an accused in a POCSO case. What moral authority does he have to seek my resignation? He was accused in 15 to 20 scams when he was the Chief Minister; is he not ashamed to ask for my resignation?” Siddaramaiah said in response.
Yediyurappa is accused in a POCSO complaint filed by the mother of a teenager on March 14. The Bengaluru police charge-sheeted the leader on June 27. However, Yediyurappa approached the Karnataka High Court, which granted him protection from arrest on the grounds that he was a former Chief Minister and a senior politician.
Yediyurappa countered Siddaramaiah’s allegations saying, “Time will tell who will retire and who will not. We will see when the case comes up in court and a decision is delivered. Let’s decide who will retire after that.”
CONGRESS’S NO-HOLDS BARRED ATTACK
Once cordial, the relationship between former Yediyurappa (BSY) and Siddaramaiah has taken another turn, particularly after Siddaramaiah raised the POCSO case. The POCSO case against BSY had previously been avoided by political rivals out of respect for the senior BJP leader. However, with tensions escalating, the Congress decided to attack the BJP on this issue as well.
Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders have been holding Janandolana meetings and public rallies along the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway to counter the week-long padayatra by BJP-JD(S) leaders demanding his resignation. “I am not going to buckle under the pressure of casteist and corrupt leaders. Nobody can remove me when I have the support of the people of Karnataka,” Siddaramaiah declared as the crowd cheered him on.
SIDDARAMAIAH’s MUDA DEFENCE
Addressing a large public rally in Mysuru, Siddaramaiah stated that he had given up on building two houses during his 40 years in politics because he could not clear the housing loan. He added that it was only now that he had a house of his own in Mysuru city. He dismissed the allegations that he had influenced officials to grant his wife 14 sites in a new layout in Mysuru’s posh Vijayanagara area as compensation for the unauthorised acquisition of 3.16 acres owned by her.
Siddaramaiah has been under the BJP scrutiny after his wife, Parvathi, who owned 3 acres in Kesare village of Mysuru, gifted to her by her brother Mallikarjun, allegedly had it taken away illegally by MUDA.
In 2021, under the BJP rule in Karnataka, she was compensated with plots totalling 38,283 sq. ft. in the Vijayanagara area, a prime locality in Mysuru.
The BJP claimed this was a scam, alleging that Siddaramaiah influenced officials to obtain compensation in a prime property area. They argue that the market value of the plots was much higher than the original land value in Kesare. Siddaramaiah countered, stating that his wife was entitled to compensation.
Continuing his attack on Yediyurappa, Siddaramaiah asked, “Have I de-notified land like Yediyurappa?”
YEDIYURAPPA, VIJAYENDRA, Ashoka NOT SPARED
He also accused BJP Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka of being involved in a 2,500-acre land scam currently pending before the Supreme Court. Siddaramaiah further alleged that state BJP president and son of Yediyurappa, B. Y. Vijayendra, made money by setting up shell companies in Kolkata. “What right does he have to speak about me?” asked Siddaramaiah.
The office of Karnataka Governor (Thawarchand Gehlot) has not taken any action against BJP ministers like Shashikala Jolle and Murugesh Nirani, who were also accused of corruption, the CM pointed out.
“When these sites were allotted, the president of MUDA was a BJP man, so why do you think the BJP-JD(S) is going on a padayatra? It’s because I have always stood by the OBCs, Dalits, and the downtrodden. Their stomachs are burning because I have become Chief Minister for the second time, like the late Devaraj Urs. Every backward class CM in this state has faced such allegations, be it Urs, Bangarappa, or Veerappa Moily,” Siddaramaiah said at the rally.
He highlighted that in his four-decade-long political career, he has been blemish-free and has never tried to amass property or had any greed for money. “Can I ever betray you people? I have never done so in the past, present, or will ever do so in the future. I have contested nine elections, and it’s the love of the people that has elected me again and again,” he said amid applause from the crowd. He spoke of how Parvathi has always stayed away from the public eye. She has never been seen at any function, whether when he became a minister or Chief Minister. “My Dharam Patni did not even attend my swearing-in ceremony as CM, both times. I doubt if many of my colleagues present on the dais have even seen her. She has always remained behind the scenes. Can you imagine her doing such things?” he asked the crowd.
DK SHIVAKUMAR JOINS IN
The Congress public meeting took an interesting turn when Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar played old video clips of BJP and JD(S) leaders attacking each other and calling each other names, including opportunists and cheats. Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar targeted the BJP and JD(S) using these clips.
Senior BJP leader Yatnal claimed that Yediyurappa and Vijayendra siphoned off thousands of crores during the COVID pandemic and looted the state and the people, Siddaramaiah said.
He also attacked former ally and now opposition leader H. D. Kumaraswamy, reminding him of the illegal mining case allegations against him. “Kumaraswamy… have you forgotten the Janthakal scam where you gave renewal to 22 companies? Don’t you have any shame or any right to seek my resignation?”
Shivakumar called the Opposition’s padayatra a “Papa-vimochana” or cleansing of sins Yatra, rather than one that could target the Congress. Expressing his solidarity with Siddaramaiah amid speculations of a rift between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar over occupying the Chief Minister’s seat, the Deputy CM said, “They call me Bande (rock). This rock and all 136 MLAs stand by Siddaramaiah, along with the support of the people of Karnataka who have voted the Congress to power,” he said.
Shivakumar played the videos on a giant screen of BJP leaders Yatnal, BSY, C. P. Yogeshwar, and JD(S) leaders H. D. Kumaraswamy, G. T. Deve Gowda, and Deve Gowda criticising each other’s party leaders in earlier instances. The Congress, through these videos, tried to showcase the deep cracks within the Opposition, who were unable to keep their house in order but are targeting the ruling party.
The remarks made over the past six years included instances like Kumaraswamy disparaging Yediyurappa, labelling him the “pioneer of corruption.” Another clip showcased was of HDK saying how he could secure “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s approval for the Mekedatu reservoir project in just five minutes,” but Shivakumar said that Kumaraswamy has now backtracked on this claim, just like his family does. “They do a U-turn on anything when they are desperate to come to power.”
“How can they accuse a lady like Siddaramaiah’s wife?” asked Shivakumar. He targeted Vijayendra as well, saying, “Wasn’t he the one who transferred money illegally into the Laxmi Vilas Bank and sent his father to jail on corruption charges? Were you not the person who made your father cry?” he questioned Vijayendra.
Calling the culmination of the Congress meeting the “final match” between the governing Congress and opposition BJP and JD(S) in Mysuru, the Congress stated that truth will prevail and the BJP-JD(S)’s scheme to unseat Siddaramaiah has once again proved futile.