BENGALURU: Amid the row over Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot granting permission for prosecution of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the alleged MUDA site allotment scam, Congress ministers and legislators took out a ‘Raj Bhavan Chalo’ protest march on Saturday.
The Congress has accused the governor of discriminatory behaviour alleging that several other cases are also pending before the him, but he has not made any decisions on them. They also sought for prosecution of Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy in a mining lease case.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar led the march to Raj Bhavan along with the other legislators who were carrying playcards with slogans written on them. The march began from the Gandhi statue near Vidhana Soudha and ended at Raj Bhavan, where the Congress submitted an appeal to the Governor. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, however, did not attend the meeting with the governor.
Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot sanctioned prosecution against Siddaramaiah in a case of alleged corruption in the allotment of sites to his wife by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) in lieu of land acquired in Kesare, Mysuru.
Speaking to mediapersons at the protest site, Shivakumar said, “…We are demanding him to be fair. This (matter against H D Kumaraswamy) is a case where the entire inquiry has been done. So, sanction prosecution and take action legally as per the Constitution…He has to do it. Though there may be a lot of pressure, we have confidence that some good sense will prevail upon him…”
Home Minister G Parameshwara, who participated in the protest march, said, “Today, we are holding a protest over the Governor’s prosecution permission of CM Siddaramaiah. There are other cases also before him, but there is no decision on that…Our demand is why is he not considering them and giving permission to prosecute them…”
IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge raised questions over governor’s intention of prosecuting Siddaramaiah when investigation in the matter is yet to completed.
“We are asking, why this discretion only for Siddaramaiah?…We are asking why this hurry to prosecute CM Siddaramaiah and not the previous cases which have been proved. Who asked for prosecution in Siddaramaiah’s case? An RTI activist. Has the investigation been completed? Has it been endorsed by any other agency? No. But in Kumaraswamy’s case, Janardhana Reddy’s case, investigation agencies have asked for prosecution. It is rotting at the table of the Governor. Why isn’t the Governor interested in prosecuting or issuing the sanctions of prosecution for these 4-5 people?…”
Law Minister H K Patil said there is mounting “political pressure” on the Governor to take a judicious decision. “We are putting moral pressure, political pressure on the Governor that he should take a judicious decision and give permission to prosecute HD Kumaraswamy. We are holding a protest and will go to the Raj Bhavan…,” said Patil.
Earlier, the Karnataka High Court 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. (ANI)