CM Siddaramaiah holds discussions with Cabinet colleagues following Governor's notice on MUDA 'scam'
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday held discussions with his Cabinet colleagues in the wake of the Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot reportedly issuing him a "show-cause notice", seen in as a precursor to sanctioning his prosecution in the alleged Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam'.
The Governor has reportedly asked the Chief Minister to explain why prosecution sanction must not be accorded in connection with the alleged irregularities in the distribution of sites to land losers by MUDA, including to his wife Parvathi.
During a breakfast meeting, Siddaramaiah is said to have discussed with the Ministers regarding a political and legal strategy and the Congress high command’s directions on the issue. A Cabinet meeting is slated to be held later today.
Siddaramaiah along with Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday met Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, party General Secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala in New Delhi and held discussions.
The Governor's move comes after a delegation of BJP legislators met the Governor on July 25 and submitted to him a memorandum demanding transfer of the MUDA case to CBI for a probe and resignation of the Chief Minister, and advocate-activist T J Abraham seeking sanction to prosecute Siddaramaiah.
In the MUDA 'scam', it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by the MUDA.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where MUDA developed a residential layout.
Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts.
BJP leaders have claimed that the MUDA "scam" is of the magnitude of Rs 4000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.
The Congress government on July 14 constituted a single member inquiry commission under former High Court Judge Justice P N Desai to probe the MUDA 'scam'.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
