Electoral bond case: CM Siddaramaiah demands Nirmala Sitharaman’s resignation

BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has called for the resignation of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman following a Bengaluru court order to file an FIR against the Union Minister and other leaders for allegedly extorting money through the now scrapped electoral bonds.

Addressing a press conference after the Mysore district progress review meeting on Friday, Siddaramaiah called out the Karnataka BJP and questioned when they would start protesting against Nirmala Sitharaman and ask for her resignation in connection with the alleged ‘scam’.

He further called for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi if there was any impartial investigation done into the matter, as well as the resignation of Union Minister and BJP leader HD Kumaraswamy.

ನಿನ್ನೆ ಮೈಸೂರು ಜಿಲ್ಲಾ ಪ್ರಗತಿ ಪರಿಶೀಲನಾ ಸಭೆಯ ನಂತರ ಪತ್ರಿಕಾಗೋಷ್ಠಿಯನ್ನು ಉದ್ದೇಶಿಸಿ ಮಾತನಾಡಿದೆ.

ಚುನಾವಣಾ ಬಾಂಡ್ ಹಗರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದಂತೆ ಜನಪ್ರತಿನಿಧಿಗಳ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದಿಂದ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸಚಿವೆ @nsitharaman ಅವರ ಮೇಲೆ ಎಫ್ ಐ ಆರ್ ದಾಖಲಿಸುವಂತೆ ಆದೇಶ ಹೊರಬಿದ್ದಿದೆ. ಇವರ ರಾಜೀನಾಮೆಗೆ @BJP4Karnataka ನಾಯಕರು ಯಾವಾಗ ಪ್ರತಿಭಟನೆ,…

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) September 28, 2024

“The special court for people’s representatives has issued an order to file an FIR against Union Minister Nirmala Sitharamana in connection with the electoral bond scam. When will the leaders protest and march for her resignation, Karnataka BJP? If there is an impartial investigation into this case, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also have to resign. Let Kumaraswamy, who is on bail, also resign”, he said in a post in X.

Following this, Kumaraswamy on Saturday questioned Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over his demands for his and Nirmala Sitharaman’s resignation and asked if the electoral bond money went into her “personal account”. “CM asking for mine and Nirmala Sitharaman’s resignation? Yes, the court asked to file an FIR, but did that electoral bond money go to her personal account? Why should she resign and why should I resign?” the Union Minister said.

On Friday, a Bengaluru court ordered the filing of an FIR against Nirmala Sitharaman and others for allegedly extorting money through electoral bonds. This came in the wake of a petition filed by Adarsh Iyer of Janadhikar Sangharsh Parishad (JSP) to the Special Court of People’s Representatives seeking a direction to take action against the Union Minister.

Following the hearing, the court ordered the Tilak Nagar police station in Bengaluru to register an FIR for the crime of extortion through electoral bonds against the Minister. (ANI)