Congress high command backs Siddaramaiah on MUDA scam, says will fight in courts
NEW DELHI: Ahead of the High Court hearing on the controversial Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) ‘scam’ case next week, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah received the backing from Congress top leadership as the party vowed to fight the case in courts. The party asserted that it will explore all options including a meeting with the President of India.
After meeting with Congress President Mallikarjuna Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in the capital, Siddaramaiah said that Karnataka governor’s move to grant sanction for his prosecution was illegal and he has already challenged it in the court.
"It has been challenged in court. I don’t want to reveal which court. The case is coming up on 29th. We believe in the law of the land. The decision taken by the governor is unconstitutional and illegal. We will get justice at the hands of the courts," he asserted.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who accompanied the CM said that the party stood united, and would pursue the matter in courts, not be "cowed". “Congress leadership is standing with us and everyone is firmly supporting Siddaramaiah,” he said.
Kharge and Gandhi had a detailed interaction with the chief minister and the deputy chief minister as well as senior Karnataka ministers, Surjewala told reporters after the meeting.
“The order from the Governor is legally untenable and politically adverse. We will fight it both in the court of law and in the court of public opinion. The court of public opinion has given us a full mandate. The people of Karnataka are with us. We have full faith in the Constitution of India, and we believe that the law is on our side. The High Court, and if necessary, the higher courts will decide appropriately,” he said.
Surjewala alleged that the BJP had been attacking the Congress guarantees benefitting the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled tribes, backward classes and minorities for the past year. The BJP and the Janata Dal (S) are scared of the Congress' guarantees and want them to be stopped, he claimed.
"This is not an attack on our chief minister or deputy chief minister, this is an attack on the people of Karnataka by the Modi government, drunk on power and using a puppet governor to destabilise an elected government," Surjewala said.
This is also an "assault on a backward class chief minister" who is the senior-most chief minister in the country, he said and added that it was "revenge-seeking" from the people of Karnataka. "Frustrated by a decimating defeat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the entire BJP leadership are now hiding behind the governor to attack the Congress government in Karnataka. This is not an attempt to dislodge or destabilise the Congress government of Karnataka but in truth ' this is a sinister design to attack the five Congress guarantees by which we are transferring Rs 53,000 crore every year directly in the bank accounts of the people," he said.