The ruling Congress in Karnataka finds itself increasingly mired in controversies, especially with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, becoming the prime target now over allegations of illegal land allotment to his wife, Parvati ,by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority( MUDA).
The charges against the CM have cropped up even as the government finds itself on the backfoot following the multi crore scam in the Valmiki Scheduled Tribes’ Development Corporation where over Rs 100 crore were pilfered. Even though the party forced B.Nagendra, the minister in charge, to resign, it will find it difficult to respond to an aggressive opposition in the monsoon session of the assembly,beginning July 15.
For the present though, with the opposition accusing him and family of misusing their position in the land allotment case in Mysuru, the CM is fighting with his back to the wall. In fact, in an uncharacteristic defence, Siddaramaiah even resorted to using his caste card, if only to ward off the attacks by his critics and the opposition.
Witness, therefore, the CM’s response that "everyone is upset because, despite being from a backward class, I became Chief Minister for the second term...they are burning and hatching a conspiracy.” If anything, the response clearly indicates a visible nervousness stemming from an unexpected attack on his reported integrity,”to quote a political analyst.
The attacks on him have added to the speculation that all is not well in the Congress party which has already been witnessing a fight over a change in the state’s leadership, with Deputy Chief Minister, D.Shivakumar, making no attempt to hide his ambition to wear the much sought after crown.
This , even as the party just completed one year in office, having won the assembly polls in May last year with a thumping majority, the first time in decades that it managed such an outpouring of support from the voters.
What is worse for Siddaramaiah is the fact that for the first time, apart from defending his chair , he finds himself entwined in a situation where his own integrity is being questioned. That too , after asserting that there was no wrongdoing on his part in the MUDA allotment. He has been arguing that MUDA had allotted him land only after acquiring the one owned by his family and brother –in-law earlier, for development.
Siddaramaiah ,however, also finds himself in trouble now after he accused MUDA of encroaching the family’s land. He claimed that “ if the allotment was wrong, the urban
the development body should compensate him by paying Rs 62 crore in lieu of his property.” Incidentally, the disputed land was originally gifted to Siddaramaiah’s wife by her brother.
Predictably, these arguments have given the much needed ammunition to the opposition with both the BJP and its ally, the JD-S, going hammer and tongs at the Congress in general and the CM in particular.
In fact, former chief minister and state JD-S chief ,H.D.Kumaraswamy, who is also the Union minister for Heavy Industries, has claimed that “I have all the documents related to the MUDA scam. These have been distributed on the streets like the pen drives were in Hassan during the Lok Sabha polls,” an obvious reference to the sex scandal allegedly involving Prajwal, his nephew and the then incumbent MP from that constituency.
This is not all. The JD-S leader also asserted that the MUDA scam had the potential to become a bigger scandal. In this connection, he charged that Siddaramaiah had not declared his MUDA land in the affidavit that he had filed while contesting the assembly polls in 2013.
Kumaraswamy’s allegation can trigger off more problems than envisaged by Siddaramaiah ,if the charges are proved . For the simple reason that under the Representation of People’s Act, the affidavit of candidates contesting elections,should list the family’s assets and liabilities. And ,filing a false affidavit can lead to rejection of the nomination.
Adding fuel to the fire, the JD-S leader also hinted that the Dy. CM could be behind raising the MUDA controversy ; a clear attempt to widen the discord between the two Congress stalwarts in the state.
If this was not enough, Siddharamaiah’s demand for Rs 62 crore as compensation from MUDA , has also angered the farmers in Mysuru. They argue that if the CM can claim such a huge amount as compensation for his properties which were supposedly taken over or encroached upon by the MUDA, then they too should be given a bigger amount for their lands that were acquired by the government for development.
Predictably, the Congress and Siddarmaiah now find themselves in a situation that is getting murkier with the opposition now demanding a CBI probe into what is being termed as the “MUDA scam” while arguing that Caesar's wife should be above suspicion.
What has further complicated matters for the CM and his party is the claim by activists related to the Right To Information(RTI) Act that the MUDA allocated sites to beneficiaries including the CM’s wife and others under the scrapped 50:50 ratio scheme.
This scheme,which was introduced in 2009 was scrapped in 2020 but was revived during the Covid period without seeking permission from the then government. In other words, the RTI activists argued” this is illegal as MUDA cannot revive a cancelled scheme.” Under the 50:50 scheme, MUDA allotted developed sites to land losers in lieu of underdeveloped areas that the body had acquired from them for forming layouts.
The cumulative impact of these ensuing developments and allegations will ,inevitably, lead to the state witnessing a stormy assembly session, beginning July 15, with the ruling party and its CM , in particular, finding themselves on the defensive .
Much, therefore, would depend on how the Siddaramaiah government manages to counter the opposition’s onslaught , more so as it has been spending more time in defending itself instead of administering the state .Besides,of course, trying to control the growing dissidence within the party!