Siddaramaiah Must Step Down, Says HD Kumaraswamy, Calls For CBI Probe

Union minister HD Kumaraswamy today tweaked his party's low-key response to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's alleged involvement in the MUDA scam, demanding not only a CBI inquiry into the matter but also his immediate resignation.

Speaking to NDTV in an exclusive interview, Mr Kumaraswamy said he was "not demanding resignation for the political issue", but was concerned about how the Chief Minister responded to events.

The ball was set in motion with the Governor's green light for the prosecution of the Chief Minister, which the government challenged in court. But the opposition BJP and Mr Kumaraswamy's Janata Dal Secular, have other allegations besides.

"As a Chief Minister... how he misled (people) misused his office for the protection of his all illegal activities" is what counts, Mr Kumaraswamy said. 

This is also part of the reason why the JDS is calling for an investigation by a Central agency. The state officials, Mr Kumaraswamy said, are under the influence of the government and are working to "destroy all the documentary evidence".

Mr Siddaramaiah, he said, must resign. Else he would "close that issue by misusing his office".

A money laundering case was filed against Mr Siddaramaiah by the Enforcement Directorate yesterday, following which, his wife wrote to the Mysuru Urban Development Authority or MUDA,  offering to return the 14 tracts of land that are at the heart of the controversy.

The offer has been accepted and the MUDA said they would take legal advice for the next step.
There have been calls from other quarters for a CBI investigation, but that appears unlikely with the Karnataka government withdrawing the general consent for its operations in the state.

The announcement was made last week by Law Minister HK Patil.

The MUDA case involves allegations of illegalities in the allotment of Mysuru's 14 premium sites to Mr Siddaramaiah's wife, BM Parvathi.

It has been alleged that the compensatory sites allotted to her are far more valuable than the land MUDA acquired from her.

Mr Siddaramaiah had denied any wrongdoing and has refused to resign.
 

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