MUDA scam: BJP and JD(S) MLAs staged a protest all night at the assembly on Wednesday. They are demanding a discussion on the alleged Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam in the assembly. Similar scenes were seen at the Legislative Council too.
As part of the protest, they held demonstrations holding placards and raised slogans -- in the form of "bhajans" -- against the Congress government, Siddaramaiah and Speaker U T Khader for not allowing a discussion. The legislators including Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka, and BJP state President and MLA B Y Vijayendra later slept in the Assembly premises.
Assembly Speaker Khader rejected the opposition's adjournment motion notice regarding the MUDA scam, leading opposition legislators to stage a day-and-night protest inside the assembly. Several members of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council including BJP and JDS parties including Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Chalavadi Narayanaswamy and CT Ravi participated in the protest.
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In a video, the protesting MLAs were seen sleeping inside the Karnataka Assembly. They also sang devotional songs during a night-long dharna against the Congress government's alleged corruption at Vidhansoudha in Bengaluru.
Karnataka BJP demand resignation of CM Siddaramaiah
The BJP unit of Karnataka has been demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, alleging that he is the "father of the Muda scam."
State party president Vijayendra condemned the Mysore Muda scam and demanded the resignation of CM Siddaramaiah. "We demand the resignation of the corrupt Chief Minister, condemn the Mysore Muda scam in which Siddaramaiah is involved, and demand the resignation of the chief minister. An hour-long sit-in satyagraha has been started in the Vidhan Soudha with BJP and JDS members of both houses against the zero-development Congress government, including the multi-crore corruption of the Valmiki Development Corporation," he posted on X.
"After robbing 187 crores of Maharshi Valmiki Nigam, which was meant for the welfare of Scheduled Tribes, MLA B Nagendra, who has already been caught by the ED, is standing in the queue and knocking on the door of the jail," the BJP leader added.
Here's what protesting leaders said
On the overnight protest inside the Karnataka Vidhan Soudha, BJP MLA Mahesh Tenginakai said that the protest will continue till the government is ready for discussion and debate. "These (state government) people are not even ready for discussion, so 100 per cent they have committed a scam. If they are not ready for discussion and debate, our protest will continue... forget resignation, these people are not even ready for discussion. We have never seen such a bad government till date," he said.
Karnataka BJP MLA Basanagouda R Patil said that this MUDA scam is of Rs 4000 crore and there is a lot of corruption in land acquisition and allotment of plots. "We want that all the scams that happened during Siddaramaiah, BS Yediyurappa, and Basavaraj Bommai governments should be exposed. This adjustment politics that has been going on in Karnataka for the last 10-15 years should come to an end. Our party high command should understand that this adjustment politics has caused a lot of damage to the BJP in Karnataka," he said.
He further said that their demand is that Siddaramaiah should resign and the investigation of this MUDA scam should be given to the CBI.
What is MUDA scam?
Siddaramaiah’s wife, Parvathi, owned 3 acres of land in Kesare village of Mysuru. This land was acquired by MUDA for development, and compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru. It is alleged that the plot allotted to the Parvathi 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.
A complaint was filed by social activist Snehamayi Krishna against CM Siddaramaiah and nine others for allegedly forging documents to claim compensation from the MUDA. The complainant alleged wrongdoings by Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathi, his brother-in-law Malikarjuna Swamy Devaraj, who claimed to be a landowner and his family. It further alleged that MUDA cheated by creating fake documents and obtaining plots worth crores of rupees.
Snehamayi Krishna has raised several questions in his complaint.BJP has alleged a scam of more than Rs 5000 crores in the alleged MUDA scam and has demanded the investigation to be handed over to CBI.
