The ruling Congress in Karnataka is fighting with its back to the wall, notwithstanding the brave face that it is seeking to put up, following the aggressive attack launched by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) alliance over the land scam allegedly involving Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah’s family.

The issue relates to the allotment of sites by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) to the CM’s wife, Parvathi.

In addition, there is the reported pilferage of Rs 90 crores from the Maharishi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation, which forced the Congress party to seek the resignation of its minister-in-charge, B. Nagendra. Subsequently, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Nagendra in connection with the alleged scam.

This has further pushed an embarrassed Siddaramaiah government into a corner. The controversy involves money meant for the development of the Scheduled Tribes, a section which the Congress is seeking to uplift.

On the face of it, a seemingly worried, albeit aggressive Congress, is giving the impression of being unperturbed by the seven-day padayatra from Bengaluru to Mysuru, launched by the fragile National Democratic Alliance (NDA) alliance comprising the BJP and JD-S in the state. The opposition is determined to pressurise the CM to resign over the MUDA land deal besides embarrassing the government on the multi crore scam.

To counter the NDA alliance, a visibly singed ruling party took the unprecedented step of releasing full page advertisements in a section of the leading newspapers. These advertisements detailed the BJP’s alleged involvement in corruption. They also went public to highlight the squabbles between the NDA partners, considering that JD-S leader Kumaraswamy had initially refused to be part of the padayatra .

These moves apart, the ruling party’s immediate concern, however, relates to the likelihood of state Governor, Thawar Chand Gehlot, sanctioning Siddaramaiah’s prosecution, following a petition by T. Thomas, an anti-graft activist, over the alleged land scam.

The Council of Ministers had passed a resolution last week, urging the Governor to withdraw the show cause notice that he had issued to the CM. The Congress is worried that the Governor, appointed by the Narendra Modi government in July 2021, could ignore the council of minister’s resolution and, instead, refer the matter to the state Lokayukta. Moreso, as Thomas has already filed a complaint with the Ombudsman’s office.

While experts differ over the legality of the proposed move by the Governor, a section of the ruling party cannot hide its apprehension that Gehlot may sanction the prosecution of the CM. Till the time of writing though, there was no official word from the Governor’s office on the issue.

Eitherway, these developments could embarrass a beleaguered Siddaramaiah who takes pride in what his supporters claim is “a taint free life as a politician”. For now though, the CM can draw comfort from the fact that the party’s Central leadership is backing him to the hilt, while asserting that “the Congress would not succumb to any pressure from the NDA alliance. If need be, we will go to the people to explain the facts to them.”

This is not to say that the Congress party is not unaware of the fight between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, Deputy Chief Minister, over the all important CM chair. More so as Shivakumar wears his ambition on his sleeves.

The party high command would also be aware that the opposition has gone public with its charge that the allegations about the MUDA scam can be sourced to none other than Shivakumar. For the time being though, the party has no choice but to back Siddaramaiah.

Not surprisingly, according to reliable sources, the Congress leadership has asked Shivakumar, a powerful Vokkaliga leader, to go on the offensive against the NDA alliance, while defending Siddaramaiah. The Dy. CM is also using the opportunity to attack Kumaraswamy, his arch rival from the Vokkaliga community.

This also explains the aggressive manner in which Shivakumar is defending the CM and the ruling party while highlighting the growing differences in the NDA alliance. Significantly, the two Vokkaliga leaders are fighting tooth and nail to retain their influence over the dominant community, lighting up the current political situation in the state.

For example, while participating in the padayatra, along with the BJP, Kumaraswamy claimed in Channapatna that Shivakumar had threatened an ex-minister to obtain a premium site in Bengaluru. That too, allegedly “at gunpoint”. This was in response to allegations by the Congress leader that the JDS chief had amassed wealth in his brother’s name.

Shivakumar had also challenged Kumaraswamy to disclose his family’s wealth ,adding that if the JD-S leader did that, he would follow suit.

Amid the intense political heat, the Congress is also taking advantage of the visible rift in the NDA. It is using the recent incident in Channapatna where BJP cadres cornered Kumaraswamy, during the padayatra, over the bypoll candidate for the assembly constituency.

The JD-S leader was elected as an MLA from Channapatna in 2023 before he became an MP in the 1924 Lok Sabha polls. Accordingly, this constituency will soon witness a bypoll to elect another MLA, a seat which the JD-S would not like to leave for the BJP.

Meanwhile, in another development, Thomas is also mounting pressure on Siddaramaiah. This is evident from his recent attack on the CM. Asserting that the Congress leader was adopting double standards, the anti-graft activist said the “CM has admitted defeat, by issuing adverse statements, instead of stating facts”.

According to Thomas, when he was attacking former CMs B. S. Yeddiyurappa, and Jagdish Shettar earlier, Siddaramaiah was happy. “But when I spoke about Siddaramaiah himself, he accused me of being a black-mailer.”

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