Bengaluru, Jan 27 (IANS) Karnataka BJP state chief B.Y. Vijayendra said on Monday that the notice by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to the wife of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Minister Byrathi Suresh to appear before the ED officers in connection with the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam is a significant setback and the development has come as a shocker for Chief Minister.
Speaking to the media on Monday at the BJP state headquarters “Jagannath Bhavan” in Bengaluru, Vijayendra stated that Siddaramaiah was under an illusion that he could come out of the MUDA scam after retuning 14 sites allotted illegally to his wife.
He also remarked on D.K. Shivakumar’s statements, saying, “I observed Shivakumar’s comments about the ED being politically motivated. But there was a hint of satisfaction on his face. He even seemed pleased that the ED had issued notices to Siddaramaiah’s family.”
“Shivakumar’s happiness over the ED notice to Siddaramaiah’s family was evident on his face,” Vijayendra taunted.
Vijayendra stated that the ED operates under its own set of rules and regulations and will proceed accordingly.
He claimed, “More than being politically motivated, this notice points to the large-scale illegal allocation of thousands of crores worth of sites during Congress’s tenure, which were meant for the poor. This massive scam will have far-reaching consequences in the coming days.”
According to Vijayendra, Siddaramaiah was in a hurry to get a “B Report” from the Lokayukta and escape from the MUDA scam.
“At the same time, the ED has issued a notice to the CM’s wife, summoning her for questioning. Similarly, Minister Byrathi Suresh has also received an ED notice. It is inevitable that both Byrathi Suresh and the CM’s wife will have to face the investigating agencies,” he said.
Siddaramaiah, who was trying to close the case swiftly by getting a “B Report” filed by the Karnataka Lokayukta, has suffered a major blow, he said.
“The Lokayukta investigation into the case has already been highlighted by the media. Even without receiving notice, Siddaramaiah’s brother-in-law, the third accused, was visiting the Mysuru Lokayukta office during nights,” he alleged.
He further criticised that special privileges were extended to the Siddaramaiah’s family by the Lokayukta which were evident during the investigation of the MUDA case.
Vijayendra recalled that BJP and JD-S had jointly conducted a protest march regarding the MUDA scam in Mysuru.
“As a result of our efforts, Siddaramaiah’s wife wrote a letter overnight to MUDA, offering to return the 14 sites. The Siddaramaiah seemed to believe that this would free him from the controversy. However, today’s ED notice has undoubtedly come as a shock,” he added.
Vijayendra noted that the details of the Lokayukta report and the information submitted to the state High Court regarding the case are still emerging.
The Leader of the Opposition in Assembly R. Ashoka commenting on the development stated in Bengaluru, “It’s natural for the ED to issue notice to Siddaramaiah’s wife. The ED and the CBI are individual bodies and there is no discrimination. When notices were issued to former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and BJP MLA Gali Janardhana Reddy it was all okay. Now it’s become wrong. This is the double standard of Congress.”
Commenting on the Lokayukta probe he said, the Lokayukta is a body which comes under the Siddaramaiah’s. The state government monitors the officers’ transfers and postings. Why will they take a risk against the ruling Congress-led government? Since the beginning we had demanded the CBI probe into the MUDA case, he stated.
BJP MLC C.T. Ravi stated that all party leaders have agreed on the facts surrounding the MUDA scam, specifically that sites were illegally allotted to influential individuals.
He added that the Congress party has also acknowledged this point. The investigation needs to determine who was involved, during whose tenure this occurred, and who the beneficiaries were.
“My question is, if B.M. Parvathi were not the Chief Minister’s wife, would she have been allotted alternative sites in the Vijayanagar locality, which was developed 30 years ago in Mysuru? When we consider both prospective and retrospective facts, there was no law allowing sites to be allotted on a 50:50 sharing formula for acquired land. Despite this, the sites were allotted. Prima facie, everything is quite evident,” Ravi opined.
“The guilty must be punished. The ED officers have seized 142 properties in connection with this case. What was the Lokayukta, which is probing the matter, doing? The officer implicated in the MUDA scam was even promoted. Who is behind this? If the guilty are not punished, there will be no meaning to the law or the Constitution. If corrupt individuals are allowed to govern, corruption will only grow,” Ravi stated.
–IANS
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