MUDA 'scam': Siddaramaiah attacks Karnataka governor over show cause notice

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Friday, 2 August, attacked governor Thawar Chand Gehlot over the show cause notice issued to him regarding the alleged irregularities in Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and accused the Centre of misusing the Raj Bhavan to destabilise the elected government.

Hitting out at the governor and seeking his reply over the consent to prosecute him, the CM said, “You are acting as a puppet of the central government.”

Speaking to the media at the Mysuru airport, CM Siddaramaiah said, “Why should I be scared? If I had made a mistake, I would be scared. Since I have done nothing wrong, there is no reason for fear. Perhaps Leader of Opposition, R. Ashoka might be scared.”

Ashoka had taunted the CM saying Siddaramaiah was scared by the issue of the show cause notice by the governor.

Pointing out the alacrity in issuing the notice, Siddaramaiah said complaints against former BJP ministers Shashikala Jolle, Murugesh Nirani, and Janardhana Reddy had not led to any action and were pending for years at the governor’s office.

“This indicates that the central government is misusing the Raj Bhavan to destabilise the elected government. The notice issued is against the law and undermines the Constitution and democracy. My role is not clear in this matter. Where is my role? They are doing this unnecessarily,” he charged.

The CM added that he had explained the issue to the party high command, who understood the facts.

When asked about the possibility of consent being given for prosecution, CM Siddaramaiah responded, “Has the governor spoken to you?”

CM Siddaramaiah criticised the complainant, T.J. Abraham, suggesting that if his antecedents were verified, he would be found to be a blackmailer.

“It is against the law to act on his complaint,” Siddaramaiah maintained and stressed that Abraham had filed many complaints against various individuals.

“I have not committed any illegalities. On 26 July, Abraham filed a complaint at 11:30 am, and the governor sent a show cause notice to me the same day,” Siddaramaiah said.

He questioned the process, stating, “I am the chief minister of an elected government, with 136 MLAs supporting me. The governor should have thoroughly verified all documents related to the legal matters before issuing the notice.”

He criticised the haste in issuing the notice, saying, “They called our additional chief secretary, L.K. Atheeq and informed him that the notice was ready. He declined to accept it, saying it was too late, and the notice was given the next day. Why so much haste?”

He added, “The issue of the notice is against the Constitution. This should be withdrawn. Who advises the governor? It is the council of ministers. Have we given advice? Did he ask us?”

CM Siddaramaiah also mentioned that a detailed letter was written by the chief secretary on 26 July, which had not been reviewed.

“We had formed a judicial commission on 14 July, and its report should be released. We asked the commission to identify any discrepancies. The governor is acting entirely at the behest of the central government and is a puppet of the BJP-JD(S) parties,” he opined.

Regarding the cabinet meeting, Siddaramaiah stated, “I did not attend the meeting as it would have set a bad precedent. I had nominated deputy CM, D.K. Shivakumar to lead the meeting. They discussed the show cause notice thoroughly and concluded that it was issued unlawfully. We appealed to the governor to withdraw the notice.”

On the BJP-JD(S) padyatra, he said, “H.D. Kumaraswamy is a Union minister, and the JD(S) state president previously stated that there was nothing in the case and that he would not support the padyatra during floods. Now, he is doing it forcibly.”

With IANS inputs