Governor Thawarchand Gehlot granted permission to prosecute Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam leading to a political turmoil in Karnataka. While the ruling Congress calls it the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “big ploy” to destabilise the state government, the ruling party and the chief minister are preparing for a long legal battle.
Though the Congress high command on Saturday strongly came out in support of the embattled CM, the development, although expected by the party, could deepen the factional friction in the state unit.
The Governor’s move has come at a time when the Congress in Karnataka is facing a fresh factional tug of war. But the Siddaramaiah camp believes the attacks against him by the BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Governor’s move have pushed the leadership into backing him completely.
The governor, in a six-page letter (August 17, 2024), has stated that he accords sanction against Siddaramaiah under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 for the commission of offences as mentioned in the petitions of social activist T.J. Abraham, Pradeep Kumar S.P, and Snehamayi Krishna.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is in the eye of a political storm, after Governor Thawarchand Gehlot give sanction to prosecute him in the MUDA site allotment scam, said the governor’s decision was “unconstitutional” and that he would fight it out in the court.
AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who landed in Bengaluru from Delhi said he was “yet to go through” the governor’s sanction order. Kharge remained non-committal when asked if the party high command would stand by the chief minister. “I will look into it and then respond,” said Kharge.
He only said that “we have seen that the governors in the non-BJP-ruled states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu or Karnataka have been harassing the chief ministers. The Centre has been humiliating and harassing the chief ministers of non-BJP-ruled states”.
State BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra urged the chief minister to resign immediately to maintain the dignity of the chief minister’s office and for the sake of justice.
“The governor has exercised his constitutional powers to authorize legal action against the CM in the MUDA scam. Given the substantial evidence and serious allegations of corruption and favouritism within the ruling Congress, it is crucial the CM steps down”, he said.
