BENGALURU: The Enforcement Directorate’s entry into the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) sites allotment case against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seems to have brought an element of unpredictability and apprehension in the Congress camp.
In an apparent bid to mitigate further risks - and akin to jettisoning the fuel to enable a safe landing - Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathy BM returned the 14 sites in Mysuru to MUDA, which are at the centre of the controversy. It was done within hours after the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was registered by the central agency.
The urban development authority completed the formalities of taking back the sites with lightning speed, which surprised many. It is unclear how the MUDA could act with such urgency when the case is still being investigated at the direction of a special court.
But the big question is, will returning the sites help the CM to wriggle out of the imbroglio that took a near irreparable dent in his image and threatened the stability of the Congress government in the state?
In 2016, during his first tenure as CM, Siddaramaiah had come under fire from the opposition over a Hublot watch, reportedly worth Rs 75 lakh, gifted by his friend. He managed to extricate himself from that controversy by handing it to the Assembly Speaker to declare it as a state asset.
But, unlike the Hublot controversy that was defused at an early stage, the MUDA case has moved quite far. The High Court and special courts have passed scathing remarks. The Lokayukta police and the ED have already started the probe. While Lokayukta police have to submit the report to the court within three months, an alleged money laundering case has been registered by the ED.
It is too early to say how the returning of the sites will help the CM in the ED case. The legal implications of it will be known only when the matter reaches either a division bench of the High Court or the Supreme Court. It can be interpreted either way. One argument could be that there is no substantial loss to the government as the property is already surrendered.
However, former Advocate General of Karnataka Ashok Haranahalli opines that returning sites at this stage will not impact the ongoing investigation. It could have had some value if the sites were returned in the initial stages itself, he says. Even many in Congress feel the sites should have been returned before Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot accorded permission to prosecute the CM.
Politically speaking, it is a good decision. It is seen as an effort to undo the damage caused after Siddaramaiah claimed Rs 62 crore compensation for returning the sites. Perhaps, that was the most ill-advised step. The CM’s remarks had shocked many, including those in Congress.
Though late in the day, returning the sites did send a positive message to the Congress leaders, especially Siddaramaiah’s team, which was at the receiving end of the legal, political, and perception battles. The move could help them disarm his detractors within the party as it is more difficult to defend his position while holding onto the sites.
On the flip side, it gave the Opposition a handle to hit out at the CM by terming it as an admission of guilt. Their argument: When there was no wrongdoing, why return the sites? To drive home its point, the BJP used Siddaramaiah’s 2011 remarks that by returning the site, then CM BS Yediyurappa had accepted his mistake.
However, Siddaramaiah’s wife’s justification for returning the sites to steer clear of controversy has failed to cut ice with the opposition parties.
Both sides continue to dig in the dirt and hurl allegations against each other almost daily. It has gone to the extent that ordinary people loathe politics, which they think is more about politicians trying to belittle each other rather than working for people’s well-being.
In that context, Siddaramaiah’s recent remarks, quoting Mahatma Gandhi, that conscience is the ultimate court is noteworthy. Alas, issues get into the courts’ domain when politicians are accused of crossing moral and legal boundaries.
Now, as the CM tries to disentangle himself from the political and legal knot that the MUDA case has landed him in, he seems to be making course corrections to reduce risks.
Considering how the ED cases against then Delhi CM Aravind Kejriwal and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren panned out, the Congress camp will be apprehensive about the developments.