MUDA land scam: BJP-JD(S) leaders have no moral right to seek my resignation, says CM Siddaramaiah
Mysuru (Karnataka), Aug 9: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday slammed the opposition BJP-JD(S) for their "Mysuru Chalo" march over an alleged land scam, saying none of their leaders have a moral right to question him and asked people to drive the "Manuvadis" out.
A day prior to the culmination of the "Mysuru Chalo" campaign, the march from Bengaluru to Mysuru demanding the chief minister's resignation alleging that his wife had benefited from an alternative site scam in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), Siddaramaiah hit out at the opposition in a major showdown in his hometown.
The opposition has alleged that Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi got alternative plots in the upmarket against the 'acquisition' of 3 acres 16 guntas of land in a remote part of the city.
Speaking at the mega "Janandolana" convention at Maharaja's College Grounds here to counter the opposition's allegations and their foot march, Siddaramaiah said, "August 9 happens to be the anniversary of the historic Quit India movement to drive out the British from India."
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"Today we have to drive out communal, casteist and feudal people. We have to oppose and condemn the Manuvadis, casteists and feudal lords who are unable to tolerate backward and exploited people. Hence, this event (Janandolana)."
He alleged former Congress CMs Devaraj Urs, S Bangarappa and M Veerapa Moily were forced to step down since they came from backward communities.
The chief minister also alleged that former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and his son and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy backtracked from their promise given to former CM N Dharam Singh to run a Congress-JD(S) coalition government in 2006 and shook hands with "communal" BJP to throw him out of power.
The BJP and the JD(S) have no moral right to question him since their leaders were involved in scams, Siddaramaiah said.
The chief minister sought to know what moral right, the leader of the opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, R Ashoka, former chief minister B S Yediyurappa, his son and BJP state president B Y Vijayendra, besides Kumaraswamy, have to seek his resignation.
"If Yediyurappa has any shame, he should have retired from politics. He is 82 years old. He is an accused in a POCSO Act case in which charge sheet had been filed. He is asking me to resign by August 10. What moral right does he have? Did he do just one or two scams? He was caught in 18 to 20 scams," Siddaramaiah said.
Alleging that Vijayendra was also caught in several scams, the chief minister reminded that BJP’s Vijayapura MLA Yatnal had also said that Vijayendra had looted several thousands of crores of rupees.
"Kumaraswamy, what moral right do you have? Have you forgotten the Jantakal mining case? You gave renewal to 20 companies. You have any shame to seek my resignation?” Siddaramaiah asked.
He also hit out at Ashoka, saying that as the land grant committee chairperson, he gave away 2,200 acres of land in BM Kaval in Bengaluru.
"These people have to reply now. I never pursued the politics of hatred and vendetta. If I was like that then such a situation would not have arisen in the first place. They would have gone to jail," the chief minister charged.
Siddaramaiah alleged that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, Kumaraswamy, Yediyurappa, Vijayendra and Ashoka were involved in a conspiracy to remove him.
He termed the complainant of the MUDA scam, T J Abraham, as a person who has no credibility.
"Who is this Abraham? The SC has slapped a penalty of Rs 25 lakh (on him in the past). A charge sheet has been filed against him on a complaint by a KAS officer, Dr Sudha, that he was blackmailing her," the chief minister said.
The charge sheet was filed against Abraham on August 5, 10 days after the Governor issued a show-cause notice to Siddaramaiah asking him why permission should not be given to prosecute him in the MUDA scam.
The show of strength saw all the Congress top guns from Karnataka, including general secretary (Karnataka) in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, state Congress president and deputy CM D K Shivakumar, ministers and MLAs rallying behind Siddaramaiah.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
