BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar met Congress high command leaders, including AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, in New Delhi on Friday.
The leaders chalked out a multi-pronged approach to deal with the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case and to protect Siddaramaiah after Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot gave sanction to prosecute him in the case.
Apart from continuing the legal battle, the Congress brass also decided to take the issue to the people’s court by launching protests across Karnataka by projecting that Siddaramaiah is being attacked because he is a backward classes leader.
“The Governor’s order 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, and we believe that the law is on our side. The High Court, and if necessary, the higher courts, will decide appropriately. All our options, including meeting the President of India, are open,” AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said after the meeting. He indirectly hinted at approaching the Supreme Court.
“The Union Government is drunk with power and is using the governor as a puppet to assault the senior-most backward classes CM (Siddaramaiah) in the country. We stand united in this fight... we stand with our CM, and we will not accept assault on him because he is from a backward class. We apprised Kharge and Rahul Gandhi on this. Congress is committed to continuing with the guarantees...,” Surjewala elaborated.
He said Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar briefed Rahul Gandhi on how a systematic and designed assault had been unleashed through the office of the “puppet governor, by BJP and JDS as part of their sinister conspiracy and design to destabilise an elected government”.
“Frustrated by a decimating defeat, the Prime Minister, home minister and the entire BJP leadership are now hiding behind a rag doll governor to attack the Congress government. This is not an attempt to dislodge and destabilise the Congress government in Karnataka, but in truth a sinister design to attack the five guarantees doled out by transferring Rs 53,000 crore to four crore Kannadigas,” he alleged.
He questioned as to why the governor has not sanctioned the prosecution of BJP-JDS leaders, BS Yediyurappa, HD Kumaraswamy, and former ministers Murugesh Nirani and Shashikala Jolle.
Shivakumar said the party stands united, and will pursue the matter in courts and not be “cowed down”. “The rank and file of the party at both the national and state level stand united with Siddaramaiah. We will support him for his continuous efforts to uplift the downtrodden,” he added.
Siddaramaiah said the governor’s move to grant sanction for his prosecution is illegal, and he has already challenged it in court. “I don’t want to reveal which court. The case is coming up on August 29. We believe in the law of the land. The decision taken by the governor is nconstitutional and illegal. We will get justice in the courts,” he asserted.
