MUDA 'scam' an "outcome" of power struggle between CM and Deputy CM: Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy
Mandya (Karnataka), Jul 5: Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy claimed on Friday that the alleged land scam in Mysuru Urban Development Authority was an "outcome" of power struggle between the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar.
“It’s an old news. Why has it surfaced now? The MUDA scam is getting lots of publicity now. Who started it? The person who is anxious to become the next Chief Minister and is waiting to unseat Siddaramaiah has done it,” Kumaraswamy told reporters here without directly naming Shivakumar.
Responding to Kumaraswamy's charge, Shivakumar told reporters in Bengaluru: "Some people don't get sleep and their brain don't work without remembering me."
The Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries, who is also the JD(S) second-in-command, said the "news" got prominence only to bring a "bad name" to the Chief Minister so that he can be removed from his post.
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“This is a conspiracy within the Congress to unseat the Chief Minister by hiring a team of lawyers and extracting documents from MUDA,” Kumaraswamy alleged. “This is an attempt to trap the Chief Minister.”
The BJP has alleged irregularities in allotment of alternative sites to land losers, including Chief Minister's wife Parvathi, by MUDA.
Denying any wrongdoing, the Chief Minister had said the plots were given to his wife by MUDA in 2021 when BJP was in power.
Reacting to this, Kumaraswamy, a former Chief Minister, sought to know what the ruling Congress has been doing for the past one year after coming to power.
“Why didn’t you take action when a file pertaining to the irregularities in MUDA came before you (Siddaramaiah)? Why were you silent then? What inspired you to take action now?” the Mandya MP asked.
The Chief Minister said earlier this week housing sites allotted by MUDA under the 50:50 scheme to land losers have been put on hold pending an investigation into the alleged irregularities.
The BJP has alleged that irregularities to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore had taken place in distribution of sites to land losers by MUDA.
"Apparently 4,500-5,000 sites were allotted by flouting norms," a BJP leader claimed.
The BJP has alleged that alternative sites were allotted to Parvathi 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, and sought his resignation.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under the scheme in lieu of over three acres of her land, where MUDA developed a residential layout.
The controversial scheme envisages allotting 50 per cent of developed land to the land loser in lieu of undeveloped land acquired for forming layouts.
Mysuru is the home district of Siddaramaiah.
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We will move court again to resist voter deletions: Mamata
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hit out at the BJP and the Election Commission over voter deletions during the SIR exercise and said her party will move a court again to resist the removal of electors from the rolls.
Her comments came after nearly 91 lakh voters' names were deleted from the electoral rolls following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision in the state.
“You will not be able to defeat the TMC by deleting names. We will move a court again to resist the exclusion of names," Banerjee said while attacking her principal challenger BJP over the roll revision exercise.
Banerjee had in February argued in the Supreme Court as she sought an intervention in the SIR process.
The EC figures, which pushed the total deletion to over 90.83 lakh names from the original voter base of 7.66 crore in October 2025, showed that the proportion of removal of electors now remains at over 11.85 per cent.
Criticising the poll panel over the SIR process, she also said, "We will fight legally to get the names included on the list as per the Constitution. If people cannot cast their votes, what is the need to frame the tribunal? And then you are saying that the list has been frozen. What is this? We will challenge it and try to understand it."
Addressing a poll rally at Arambagh in Hooghly district, the TMC supremo accused the saffron party of trying to manipulate the electoral rolls and offering money to woo voters.
Banerjee also charged the Election Commission with intimidating people over the phone.
“It (EC) is working at the behest of the BJP. It is calling people over the telephone to threaten and intimidate them,” she claimed.
Later, while speaking at a rally in Balagarh in the same district, Banerjee warned that voting for the BJP would effectively mean "giving up fish, meat, and speaking in Bengali".
“People are not allowed to eat eggs, fish, or meat in the BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. The same will happen here if the BJP comes to power," Banerjee claimed.
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