BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has hit back at BJP and JDS leaders over the allegation of tampering with a letter submitted by his wife to MUDA officials seeking alternative sites for acquiring a piece of land owned by her for formation of a residential layout in Mysuru.
In a statement here, Siddaramaiah accused the BJP and JDS leaders of politicising the issue and defaming his family. Their allegation is baseless, he said.
“The BJP and JDS leaders are crying hoarse as if it is a big crime to use whitener to mask four or five words in the letter submitted to MUDA by my wife,” he said.
“The words concealed are clearly visible in this video. The BJP and JDS leaders should see it properly to find the truth,” the chief minister said.
Siddaramaiah said that his wife had requested MUDA to grant her alternative sites for acquiring her land. She had asked for sites at Third Stage of Devanur Layout developed by MUDA or at a residential layout to be developed later. Due to non-availability of sites at Devanur Layout, whitener was used to amend the request for sites at a layout to be developed by MUDA.
“There is no note, no order, no instruction in this regard. It is simply a request to grant sites for the land that rightfully belonged to us acquired by MUDA,” Siddaramaiah clarified.
On the allegation that whitener was used to conceal the content of the letter, Siddaramaiah termed it absurd.
Truth will prevail ultimately, says Siddu
Siddaramaiah said, “What will the self-proclaimed legal pundits, who used to say ‘You can’t erase the content by applying whitener,’ say now? My wife simply asked for sites in Vijayanagar and someone made the adjustment on her behalf after the controversy erupted?”
Siddaramaiah criticised his political opponents and accused them of portraying him and his family as criminals. “The BJP and JDS leaders, who portrayed me and my family in poor light, have been proven wrong in the eyes of the people today,” he said.
The CM expressed confidence that the truth will prevail. “It may take some time, but ultimately the truth will prevail,” he said.
Meanwhile, Union minister for Steel and Heavy Industries HD Kumaraswamy criticised Siddaramaiah for using a torch to show the content of the letter that had been concealed using whitener. The CM is repeatedly committing mistakes, Kumaraswamy said.
Questioning the authenticity of the document, Kumaraswamy said, “The original document is with MUDA. How did the CM get the original document? Who are the individuals who gave him this original document? And is this original document with MUDA, or is it in CM’s house?”
