Karnataka: BJP holds protest demanding CM Siddaramaiah's resignation after HC's verdict on MUDA scam

Hubli (Karnataka) [India], September 24 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday held a protest in Hubli city demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after the Karnataka High Court dismissed his petition challenging Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's approval on conducting an investigation in the alleged Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam.
The protest was led by BJP MLA Aravind Bellad, and it was held at the Aravind Nagar circle area in Hubli.
Bellad told ANI, "Siddaramaiah committed a mistake, and the governor asked for an explanation, but he could not give a proper answer. Now, after the High Court decision, there will be further investigation, and Siddaramaiah will have to resign. He should resign and let someone become the Chief Minister. He should go to the court and fight."
Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's petition challenging the approval given by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot for conducting an investigation against him in the alleged illegalities in Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) allotting sites to his wife.
In his judgement, the single judge bench of Justice Nagaprasanna said that the order of sanction for prosecution does not suffer from non-application of mind by the Governor.
It is alleged that MUDA illegally allotted 14 sites to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife in the prime location of Mysuru city. The High Court, in its interim order passed on August 19, had granted a temporary relief to Siddaramaiah by directing a special court in Bengaluru to defer further proceedings and not to take any precipitative action pursuant to the sanction granted by the Governor.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that he is not scared of the BJP and JD(S) conspiracy and will discuss with legal experts & ministers how to fight this.
Addressing a press conference, CM Siddaramaiah said that the Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (Secular) will not succeed in destabilising the Congress government.
"They might have succeeded in the past, but not this time. It is not a prosecution. I will discuss with legal experts & ministers how to fight this, and take a further call. We will not be scared of BJP and JD(S) conspiracy, as well as that of the Governor's office. People have blessed us. I have their blessing. I also have the high command and party leaders backing me," he said.
The Karnataka CM further said that all the MLA leaders and workers of the Congress high command have stood by him and encouraged him to continue the fight.