BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Congress are all set to start a legal fight by moving the Karnataka High Court on Monday against Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s sanction to prosecute the chief minister in the MUDA case.
After talking to legal experts, including his legal adviser AS Ponnanna, Siddaramaiah decided to file the petition, challenging the governor’s decision. Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kabil Sibal are arriving from New Delhi to represent the CM. The case is likely to be heard on Monday, sources said.
Siddaramaiah, who was scheduled to visit Guru Raghavendra temple in Mantralaya on Monday, cancelled his visit.
Meanwhile, party high command leaders -- AICC general secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala -- held talks with the CM and also AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, who is in town, on the pros and cons of filing the case.
Karnataka politics is heading towards a decisive phase with Siddaramaiah calling for a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting on August 22, Thursday, to take the party’s 136 MLAs into confidence. The meeting is crucial as it will decide if Siddaramaiah should continue or quit as CM, if an FIR is filed against him, a source said. On August 23, Siddaramaiah is leaving for New Delhi to meet Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and his mother Sonia Gandhi, sources added.
Top Cong leaders meet Siddu
Mallikarjun Kharge rushed to Bengaluru on Saturday after the governor issued the sanction. Since then, the residences of both Siddaramaiah and Kharge have been hubs of intense political activity.
Kharge’s supporters, including SC/ST MLAs from Kalyana-Karnataka, and senior leader Shamanuru Shivashankarappa, visited him on Sunday. Both Venugopal and Surjewala also spoke to Kharge.
“Siddaramaiah and his supporters may claim that it may not be an ethical issue as there is no material evidence against him. But Rahul Gandhi will be in a fix if Siddaramaiah continues as CM if the FIR is filed, once the court directs any of the investigating agencies to probe the case,” an expert said.