MUDA scam: "Entire cabinet with me," says CM Siddaramaiah as prosecution threat looms
Aug 17, 2024
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], August 17 : Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who will now face prosecution in the alleged MUDA scam, said on Saturday that the entire State cabinet is standing with him.
"The entire Cabinet, party high command, all MLAs, MLCs, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs are with me...," he briefly told reporters here today.
The Karnataka government has said they will challenge the Governor's action in the High Court.
Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot today granted permission to prosecute Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the alleged MUDA scam, according to the Raj Bhavan sources.
Siddaramaiah has, however, been maintaining that "everything was done according to the law".
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar today said that the state government will put all their weight behind Siddaramaiah.
"We stand with CM Siddaramaiah. The party, the high command the entire state and the Cabinet stand with him. We will fight it legally and we will fight it politically as well... Whatever notice and sanction has been given is against the law. We have made all our preparations to fight it legally, this is nothing but a clear conspiracy against backwards-class CM Siddaramaiah who is running the government for the second time."
On the other hand, the BJP is mounting pressure, demanding that the resignation of the chief minster.
BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said that the CM "must resign to make way for an impartial investigation".
Defending the governor's move, BY Vijayendra who is the state BJP President, said that the governor has exercised his constitutional powers.
"The Hon'ble Governor has exercised his constitutional powers and allowed legal action to be taken against the chief minister's Muda scam complaint," he said in a post on X.
Earlier, a complaint was filed by social activist Snehamayi Krishna against Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and nine others for allegedly forging documents to claim compensation from the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
