Sidhima Choudhary, Pune
BJP MLAs, staged a sleep protest in the Karnataka Assembly alleging the fraudulent allotment of sites to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the MUDA (Mysuru Urban Development Authority) scam demanding resignation on Wednesday night.
The protest included the leader of the opposition R Ashok and BJP Karnataka president B.Y. Vijayendra, holding demonstrations such as holding placards, saying slogans and singing religious slogans. The opposition claims the scam to be worth Rs. 3,000 crore, labelling Siddaramaiah as the “father of the Muda Scam.”
The MUDA was embroiled in a scam past COVID-19. The scheme entangled various political persons which led the state government to form a judicial committee to look into the matter and start an investigation. The controversy centres on the 50:50 incentive scheme, where the individuals who lost their land to develop the layouts for development were either given just 50% of the promised sites or an alternative site.
The scam emerged when Siddaramaiah’s wife, Parvathi who owned 3 acres of land in Kesare Village, Mysore was acquired by MUDA for development. In 2022, she was reportedly compensated with 14 alleged site allocations in an upmarket area in Mysuru.
Following the incident, CM Siddaramaiah denied the allegations claiming that the four acres of land belonged to his wife to form a layout without her consent and was “illegally’’ taken by MUDA. The CM calls these allegations politically motivated fueled out by “hate and revenge” to cast a black mark on his image as he became the Chief Minister for the second term.
Subsequently, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, D.K. Shivakumar defended the CM by giving a befitting reply to the opposition parties by giving a strong message saying, “We will give a proper reply to the leaders of the opposition BJP and JD(S) who are trying to ruin the image of the CM.”
He further announced the government of Karnataka will soon release a list of sites allotted to the previous BJP government under the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA). He added that the Congress will not be organising a ‘march’ to counter the ‘foot march’ called by the BJP and JD(S). Instead, they will be responding by releasing the details of the scam. He said “Our ‘foot march’ only marches for the state and the country.”