News Brief
Karnataka: Police Complaint Filed Against CM Siddaramaiah's Wife In MUDA 'Scam'—All You Need To Know
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
A social activist has lodged a police complaint against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife, Parvathi, and two others, alleging their involvement in the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam.
Activist Snehamayi Krishna filed the complaint at Vijayanagar police station in Mysuru, accusing the Congress veteran, his wife, MUDA officials, and other administrative personnel of irregularities.
However, police have not registered a new FIR, citing an ongoing investigation into MUDA's alleged irregularities.
This new complaint follows BJP leaders' accusations that Parvathi benefited from alleged land allotment irregularities by MUDA.
BJP leaders claim influential figures, including the Chief Minister's wife, received prime property in Mysuru as compensation for land acquired by MUDA for layout development.
They alleged that the land's compensation value far exceeded the acquired land, causing a Rs 4,000 crore loss to the state exchequer.
Siddaramaiah said the land his wife was compensated for was gifted by her brother Mallikarjuna in 1998.
However, activist Krishna alleged that Mallikarjuna bought the land in 2004 and gifted it to Parvathi in 2010, despite the land allegedly already being denotified and falsely shown as agricultural.
Krishna further alleged that Mallikarjuna illegally procured the land and registered it using forged documents with government and revenue officials' help. The land was shown to have been bought in 1998.
Parvathi sought compensation for this land in 2014, during Siddaramaiah's tenure as Chief Minister.
Responding to the BJP's allegations, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that his wife was awarded compensation during the BJP's tenure and that it was her rightful claim.
"They (BJP) are the ones who gave the site, now if they call it illegal, how should one respond? They took away our land and parks were made there, and those sites were allocated to others. Should we give up our land because I am the Chief Minister?" Siddaramaiah said, NDTV reported.
The BJP has demanded a CBI investigation into the alleged irregularities.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka said, "The land was acquired by MUDA and then denotified. I don't know on whose pressure it was done. After the denotification, MUDA formed a layout, park and playground on that land. This gives rise to many doubts because once it is denotified, MUDA has no right to touch that piece of land, which belongs to a reputed person. Yet, the layout was formed."
HD Kumaraswamy, Union minister and leader of BJP ally JDS, has claimed that the MUDA row is an outcome of a power struggle between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar.
