Mysuru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rejected the BJP’s demand for a CBI probe into the alleged fraudulent allotment of sites to land losers by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), which involves plots given to his wife Parvathi.
He accused the BJP of politicizing a “non-issue.”
The Chief Minister was reacting to BJP state President B Y Vijayendra announcing earlier in the day that a “mega” protest would be staged in Mysuru, Siddaramaiah’s home district, on July 12 in connection with the alleged “scam.”
It is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah’s wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had a 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 the MUDA developed a residential layout.
The controversial scheme envisages allotting 50 percent of developed land to the land loser in lieu of undeveloped land acquired for forming layouts.
“There are two issues, one of which is that in October itself, MUDA was told not to give sites under the 50:50 ratio scheme, but despite that, sites were given regarding which investigation is being conducted by two IAS officers. And based on it, action will be taken. Second, they (the BJP) want to make the sites given to my wife an issue; it is not at all an issue. It is not an issue at all,” Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
“Did we seek sites to be given in Vijayanagar? We haven’t. Our land was illegally taken over. What will you do if your land is taken over? Won’t you claim? That’s what has happened here. We sought compensation for our land that was taken over; they (MUDA) gave it in Vijayanagar, and they accepted at the meeting that the illegal takeover of our land was wrong.”
Terming the BJP’s proposed protest as “political,” the Chief Minister said if they raise the issue in the Legislative Assembly, “we will respond to it.”.
On the BJP’s demand for a CBI probe, he said, “Can’t our police probe? What are our police for? I have given several cases to the CBI during our government; have they (the BJP) given any cases while in power? CBI Director Praveen Sood was DGP in Karnataka; our police have the capability to investigate.”
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Tamreen Sultana | 
