MUDA Issue: Congress Leadership Backs Siddaramaiah, Slams BJP For Trying To Destabilise K'taka Govt

Days after the Karnataka governor granted sanction for the prosecution of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority case, the Congress' top leadership on Friday expressed its backing for him and alleged that the Centre had unleashed a systematic assault through a "puppet governor" to destabilise an elected government. The Congress said it stood united, would pursue the matter in courts and not be "cowed".

The party made the assertion after Siddaramaiah and Karnataka's Deputy Chief Minister and Pradesh Congress Committee chief DK Shivakumar met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi at the AICC headquarters here.

Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and Congress general secretary in-charge of the state Randeep Surjewala were also present during the meeting. After the meeting, Siddaramaih said they had explained the situation in Karnataka to the party top brass. "It has been challenged in court. We believe in the law of the land. The decision taken by the governor is unconstitutional and illegal. We will get justice at the hands of the courts," he asserted.

Kharge and Gandhi had a detailed interaction with the chief minister and the deputy chief minister as well as senior Karnataka ministers, Surjewala told reporters after the meeting. "The current political situation in Karnataka was discussed in detail. The chief minister and the Pradesh Congress Committee president and deputy chief minister briefed the Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on how a systematic and designed assault has been unleashed through the office of a puppet governor as part of a sinister conspiracy designed to destabilise an elected government," he said.

"Frustrated by a decimating defeat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the entire BJP leadership are now hiding behind the governor to attack the Congress government in Karnataka. This is not an attempt to dislodge or destabilise the Congress government of Karnataka but in truth … this is a sinister design to attack the five Congress guarantees by which we are transferring Rs 53,000 crore every year directly in the bank accounts of the people," he said.

Surjewala alleged that the BJP had been attacking the Congress guarantees benefitting the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled tribes, backward classes and minorities for the past year. The BJP and the Janata Dal (S) are scared of the Congress' guarantees and want them to be stopped, he claimed. "This is not an attack on our chief minister or deputy chief minister, this is an attack on the people of Karnataka by the Modi government, drunk on power and using a puppet governor to destabilise an elected government," Surjewala said. This is also an "assault on a backward class chief minister" who is the senior-most chief minister in the country, he said and added that it was "revenge-seeking" from the people of Karnataka. The Congress government in Karnataka is committed to continuing with its guarantees, he said.

"We will face every assault by the Union government and their governor. We will follow all our legal remedies, we have full faith in the majesty of the law and in the system of the judiciary. We will take this battle to the court of the people," Surjewala said.

He asked why the governor had not granted sanction for the prosecution of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa for the past five to six years. Surjewala also questioned why the governor had not sanctioned the prosecution against HD Kumaraswamy and half-a-dozen other BJP and JD(S) leaders, asserting that "we will not be cowed down". "We stand united in this fight. We stand with our chief minister. We will not accept any assault just because our chief minister comes from a backward class background," Surjewala said.

Shivakumar asserted that the Congress leadership was standing with them and everyone was firmly supporting Siddaramaiah. The Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) "scam" has been a thorn in Siddaramaiah's side, with allegations of illegal land dealings involving the chief minister and his wife Parvathi flying thick and fast. At the heart of the controversy are claims that Parvathi received 14 plots in exchange for 3.16 acres of land, which was allegedly acquired illegally by MUDA.

Adding to the political pressure, Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot recently sanctioned investigations under the Prevention of Corruption Act, intensifying scrutiny of the chief minister. Accompanying Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar to Delhi were several key state ministers, including Home Minister G Parameshwar, Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa and Minority and Housing Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, MLC K Govindaraju and Power Minister KJ George.