The entire Congress party is standing in support of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, said his deputy DK Shivakumar on Thursday, reported ANI.
The statement came against the backdrop of the Bharatiya Janata Party demanding the immediate resignation of Siddaramaiah after the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday upheld the sanction granted by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to prosecute him in the alleged Mysore Urban Development Authority scam.
On Wednesday, a special court ordered a Lokayukta police investigation against Siddaramaiah.
“I am telling you there is no need for the chief minister to resign,” said Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, on Thursday. “The BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) are hatching a political conspiracy against the chief minister.”
Shivakumar said the Opposition parties in the state were unable to “digest the fact that guarantee schemes are reaching so many people”.
“Karnataka is the largest state where Congress is in power, and the BJP can't tolerate that,” he said. “There is no question of the chief minister resigning.”
On July 26, Gehlot granted the sanction to prosecute Siddaramaiah in an alleged scam pertaining to the allotment of 14 high-value housing sites in Mysuru’s Vijaynagar area to Siddaramaiah’s wife, Parvathi, in 2021 by the Mysore Urban Development Authority under a state government scheme.
This was allegedly done in exchange for 3.16 acres of land that Parvathi owned in another part of the city. The land was allegedly illegally acquired from Dalit families.
On August 19, Siddaramaiah moved the High Court challenging Gehlot’s decision, contending that it was part of a concerted effort to destabilise the Congress government in Karnataka.
After the High Court upheld the sanctions, the BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) called for Siddaramaiah’s immediate resignation “on moral grounds”, reported The Hindu.
On Wednesday, Siddaramaiah had said that he would not be resigning from his post as he had done no wrong.
“Our legal battle against the vindictive politics of the BJP and the JD(S) will continue,” said the chief minister. “They have resorted to revenge politics because I stand for the poor and fight for social justice.”
Responding to this, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala alleged that Siddaramaiah first committed corruption and was now showing a “brazen attitute”, reported ANI.
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