Was unaware of Kesare land issue, says CM Siddaramaiah in statement to Lokayukta police

BENGALURU: The Mysuru Lokayukta police, who have already submitted an interim report in the alleged MUDA site allotment scam, has already exonerated Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his family of any wrongdoing. The move had even drawn criticism from Union Minister K D Kumaraswamy.

The special court for elected representatives has also directed the Lokayukta police to provide a copy of the final report to the complainant Snehamayi Krishna. It has posted the matter for further hearing on March 7.

Public TV has now accessed the answers provided by CM Siddaramaiah and his family members during the Lokayukta police inquiry. As per the records, Siddaramaiah has said that he did not provide any monetary aid for the purchase of the 3.26 acres of land in Kesare by his brother-in-law and that he was not aware of the request made in 1999 to not acquire the piece of land. He also claimed that he had not influenced any officials and that he came to know about the gift of the land during mid-2013.

Further, he said that he had not taken any steps in respect of the land in 2013 when he was CM and that he was not aware of the 50:50 ratio scheme. He also said that he was unaware of where the alternative sites were allotted and that he did not remember mentioning about the 14 sites in his election affidavit. He also said that since his name cropped up in the case, his wife Parvathi B M had volunteered to surrender the 14 sites, and that in place of his wife’s signatures in the khatas, one Kumar had signed, perhaps with his wife’s consent. He also claimed that he was not aware of the use of whitener in the documents.

Adding further, Siddaramaiah said he knew his brother-in-law Mallikarjun Swamy’s family before marriage in 1977, but added that he had never had any financial transaction with him after marriage. He also said that he was unaware of the Kesare land controversy and that he was informed about it by his wife and son in 2013. He also claimed that he did not know about the previous owner and that his family members had never sought any financial help. He also said that he did not know the previous owner Devaraj.

Siddaramaiah clamied that Mallikarjun Swamy did not approach him for any help when the land was acquired in 1998 and had not even met him. During that time, Kumar Nayak was the Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru, but he did not make any sort of recommendation, the CM claimed.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi told the Lokayukta police that the Kesare land was gifted to her in 2010 and that she was unaware of any transactions before that. She said that she visited the land for the first time in 2013 and when she visited it again in 2014, she came to know that sites had been formed.

The land in Kesare which was acquired by MUDA.

She also claimed that she was unaware of MUDA acquiring the land and later denotifying it. She said that she came to know about the formation of site from her brother and that she submitted an application for allotment of alternative sites in 2014. While stating that the signature on the application was hers, she denied knowledge about who had drafted the letter. She said that since her husband’s name was dragged into the controversy, she decided to return the 14 sites allotted to her.