Guv's show-cause notice to Siddaramaiah heats up Karnataka politics

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday held discussions with his cabinet colleagues in the wake of the Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot reportedly issuing him a 'show-cause notice', seen as a precursor to sanctioning his prosecution in the alleged Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam'.

The Governor has reportedly asked the chief minister to explain why prosecution sanction must not be accorded in connection with the alleged irregularities in the distribution of sites to land losers by MUDA, including to his wife Parvathi.

During a breakfast meeting, Siddaramaiah is said to have discussed with the ministers regarding a political and legal strategy and the Congress high command's directions on the issue.

Siddaramaiah, however, skipped a cabinet meeting which discussed the 'show-cause notice'.

Home Minister G Parameshwara said Siddaramaiah authorised Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar to chair the meeting.

Parameshwara said since the cabinet was slated to discuss the notice issued to him by the Governor, ministers requested the chief minister not to attend it.

Earlier on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah along with Shivakumar met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, party general secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala in New Delhi and held discussions.

The Governor's move comes after a delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party legislators met the Governor on July 25 and submitted to him a memorandum demanding transfer of the MUDA case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a probe and resignation of the chief minister, and advocate-activist T J Abraham seeking sanction to prosecute Siddaramaiah.

In the MUDA 'scam', it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been 'acquired' by the MUDA.

The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where MUDA developed a residential layout.

Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts.

BJP leaders have claimed that the MUDA 'scam' is of the magnitude of Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.

The Congress government on July 14 constituted a single member inquiry commission under former high court Judge Justice P N Desai to probe the MUDA 'scam'.

Meanwhile, ministers in the Siddaramaiah cabinet took exception to the Governor issuing the notice to the CM.

Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre saw it as a 'conspiracy to topple a democratically elected government'.

"We will wage a legal and political battle", he said.

"We will take it legally," Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge told reporters.

Kharge said the notice has been served 'without any information and without seeking clarification'.