BENGALURU: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday held a statewide protest against the Congress for ‘disrespecting’ Governor Thawarchand Gehlot after he sanctioned prosecution against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the alleged MUDA site allotment scam.
The protest was led by the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy. BJP leaders and BJP workers including former Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan joined the protest.
Ashwath Narayan said, “It is a fight against corruption, a fight for justice. We are urging Congres to take action against its CM Siddaramaiah and ensure that he is immediately dismissed…”
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wondered whether Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot had not discriminated against him by granting immediate permission to prosecute him in the alleged MUDA ‘scam’ while following a delaying approach in the case of Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
“Has the governor not discriminated by giving immediate permission for prosecution against me? In the case of former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, the Governor has been following a delay policy, but he has permitted the prosecution without relying on any investigation report against me. Is this not discrimination?”, the CM told reporters in Koppal.
In a post on X, the CM said that the Lokayukta Special Investigation Team sought permission for prosecution against the Janata Dal (Secular) leader in the alleged illegal mining case, but the governor did not take any action. “In HD Kumarawamy’s case, the Governor is following a delaying approach, but he has allowed prosecution against me alone any investigation report. What else is this but discrimination?” he asked.
“Kumaraswamy is already scared. They are worried that the governor may allow an investigation into the illegal mining case. Lokayukta SIT submitted an investigation report against him and sought permission for prosecution, but as no action was taken by the Governor, SIT applied again”, the CM added.
The CM was speaking in the context of the SIT seeking the Governor’s nod to file a chargesheet against H D Kumaraswamy over an alleged ‘illegal’ mining lease. Kumarswamy, in turn, accused the Congress of vendetta politics and said that the Congress wanted to malign him using a dead case.
The Karnataka High Court on Monday asked the trial court concerned not to take any precipitative action against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah based on the Governor’s sanction in the MUDA ‘scam’, till the next date of hearing before the High Court.
Earlier, a complaint was filed by social activist Snehamayi Krishna against the Karnataka CM and nine others for allegedly forging documents to claim compensation from the Mysuru Urban Development Authority. (ANI)