Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday stood his ground and ruled out the possibility of his resignation over the MUDA case. “I work with a clear conscience. So there is no need for me to resign,” he said.
He questioned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) slapping a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case against him, maintaining that the MUDA issue did not attract its provisions. “I don’t know on what grounds it is a money laundering case, because compensatory sites were given,” Mr. Siddaramaiah told reporters.
Backing of Ministers
Meanwhile, two Cabinet Ministers – H.K. Patil and G. Parameshwara – on Tuesday came down heavily on the ED for registering an Enforcement Case Information Report against Mr. Siddaramaiah.
Mr. Patil said the ED case registered under PMLA would be one of the greatest blunders by the probe agency. He said “it was shocking as well as surprising” as to how the MUDA case, which was several years old, could be a money laundering case.
‘Right decision’
However, Mr. Patil justified the surrender of sites by Chief Minister’s wife Parvathi and said she had taken the “right decision”. Ms. Parvathi surrendered sites as she was concerned about the honour of her husband, he said.
Dr. Parameshwara questioned the registration of a case under PMLA despite the absence of any “financial transactions”.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Dr. Parameshwara said that Ms. Parvathi had clarified her stand on why she offered to return the plots to MUDA and that the entire episode was turning out to be political and aimed at tarnishing the image of Mr. Siddaramaiah.
No financial transactions
“As far as I know, there were no financial transactions. There is no benefit out of those transactions, either by the Chief Minister or his wife. I do not know why or how the ED got involved. They will have to justify it later,” Dr. Parameshwara said.
Published - October 01, 2024 09:43 pm IST
