Ex-MUDA chairman Marigowda appears before ED for questioning
Bengaluru (PTI): Former Mysuru Urban Development Authority chairman K Marigowda on Thursday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with the MUDA site allotment scam.
Marigowda arrived at the central agency's office in Shantinagar here and recorded his statement.
The ED sleuths had on Wednesday questioned Raichur Congress MP G Kumar Naik, a former IAS officer who had served as the Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru district, and Siddaramaiah’s personal assistant C T Kumar for several hours.
Marigowda had resigned last month as the MUDA chairman citing personal reasons.
Already the Lokayukta police have registered a case against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathi B M, his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and others for the allotment of 14 MUDA sites in the Mysuru upmarket against the ‘acquisition’ of 3 acres 16 guntas of Parvathi’s agriculture land in Kesare village.
Earlier, the ED had carried out raids at several locations in Mysuru while probing the money laundering aspect in the MUDA scam on a complaint by activist Snehamayi Krishna.
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Siddaramaiah defends BPL ration card cancellation, says only ineligible beneficiaries affected
New Delhi, Nov 21: In a strong defence of the Karnataka government's move to cancel ration cards, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday clarified that only government employees and income tax payers are being weeded out from the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list, not eligible poor beneficiaries.
Talking to reporters, Siddaramaiah asserted that the cancellation is in line with the National Food Security Act, which explicitly bars government employees and income tax payers from receiving BPL ration cards.
He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of raising a politically motivated issue despite originally opposing the food security legislation.
"The rights of eligible ration card holders will be fully protected," the chief minister emphasised, dismissing opposition claims that the move was linked to fund constraints for implementing poll promises.
ALSO READ: Karnataka to reissue BPL cards for eligible families: Deputy CM DK Shivakumar
The controversy stems from the Karnataka government's recent survey identifying 22.63 lakh BPL card-holders as ineligible. This move has triggered a political slugfest between the ruling Congress and the BJP.
Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi claimed the central government had directed the state to clean the beneficiary lists. He alleged that the card cancellation was a strategy to avoid implementing the state's Gruha Lakshmi Yojana scheme.
Siddaramaiah hit back, reminding that the food security law was introduced during the Manmohan Singh government in 2013 to protect poor citizens' interests. He criticised the BJP for previously reducing food grain allocation from seven kg to five kg per beneficiary during B S Yediyurappa's tenure.
The chief minister categorically stated that there would be no compromise on the five poll guarantees and that sufficient funds were available for their implementation.
Siddaramaiah was in the national capital for the launch of Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Ltd's Nandini brands in Delhi. He also met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the issue of farm loan.
