Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar announced on Thursday that the Government of Karnataka would soon release a list of Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) sites illegally allotted by the previous BJP government, even as BJP and JD(S) members continued to demand a discussion in the legislature on the alleged scam in development authority.
Speaking to reporters, he said, “The media had reported that MUDA sites were allotted by the BJP two years ago. The BJP could have admitted it during the discussion in the session. They are scared that their misdeeds will come out.”
He further said, “We allowed detailed discussions on the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Schedules Tribes Development Corporation scam, and the BJP leaders raised many issues. But the same BJP did not allow Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to respond, fearing being exposed. But the Chief Minister exposed BJP’s scams in writing. The government has ordered an inquiry into all those scams.”
The BJP and JD(S) resorted to a night-long dharna in both Houses of the legislature on Wednesday demanding a discussion on alleged irregularities in MUDA, including the allotment of 14 alternative sites to Mr. Siddaramaiah’s wife. Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok demanded a CBI probe into the alleged ₹3,000 crore land scam.
Judicial probe
The Congress government has ordered a one-man judicial probe into the allotment of MUDA sites from 2006 to 2024. “There is nothing wrong in the allocation of sites to the Chief Minister as per rules. If any irregularity happened, it happened during the BJP rule,” Mr. Shivakumar said.
“Investigations are on. We will expose the BJP’s scams during the tenure of former Chief Ministers B.S. Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai. They are trying to obstruct the functioning of the Assembly. We will expose all their scams,” Mr. Shivakumar said.
