MUDA site row: Opposition parties intolerant about backward community man being CM twice, says Siddaramaiah

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was countering the allegations over MUDA site allocation to his wife.

Mysuru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said the Opposition parties in the state have been jealous and intolerant about a man from backward class community being CM twice and the protests and the allegations over MUDA site allocation to his wife are a mere political conspiracy done for political reasons.

"Will I be scared about it? We also know how to counter it politically," CM said, adding, "However, once the SIT gives a report related to alleged irregularities in MUDA, we will rectify the lapses. We will clean up MUDA," he asserted.

He was speaking to media persons near his residence at Sharadadevinagar in Mysuru on Thursday.

Explaining that DC had converted the agriculture land of his brother-in law Mallikarjunswamy in 2005 and it was not developed when he gifted it to his wife in 2010, Siddaramaiah claimed MUDA had illegally acquired it in 2014 and developed the sites and distributed it. In order to compensate it, they have given sites in alternate developed area in Vijaynagar in 2021 when the BJP was in power, even though we had not asked for sites in that layout, he added.

"They are supposed to give three times the land value, that is Rs 57 crore for our land acquired. With the interest, the value goes up to Rs 63 crore. There is also another woman from Srirampura second stage, who lost land in a similar way and she has approached the high court for compensation. If they acquire our land illegally without our knowledge, how is it our fault?" he questioned.

When asked about the complaint by T J Abraham regarding the value of his wife's property mentioned in his election affidavits, he said, "If the election commission serves notice, we will answer it".

On the SIT preliminary report about the alleged scam in Valmiki development corporation, he said, "We are yet to get any report. Once the SIT investigates and and submits a report and charge sheet, we will know who is responsible for the scam. The treasury might have released the money to Valmiki Corporation," he said.

When asked about opposition leaders demanding his resignation over the scam in Valmiki Corporation, as he also handles the finance portfolio, he countered it saying "Has Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman and PM Narendra Modi resigned when there were several allegations related to irregularities in banks? Officials release money from the treasury. It wouldn't come to my notice as finance minister," he said.