MUDA 'scam': BJP to hold "day-and-night" dharna in Karnataka Assembly, Council
Bengaluru, Jul 24: Karnataka BJP on Wednesday announced that it would stage "day-and-night" dharna in both Legislative Assembly and Council over not allowing discussion regarding the alleged fraudulent allotment of sites to land losers by Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), which involves plots given to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi.
The opposition was not allowed to discuss the issue in both the Houses today. The legislature session is slated to end on Friday.
"Congress has 136 MLAs. When we brought an adjournment motion regarding Rs 4,000 crore loot in MUDA scam, the government was scared and was running away (from discussion). They have passed key bills including the finance bill without discussion. This government is (of) cowards, they don't have the courage to respond to MUDA allegations in the House," Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, R Ashoka said.
While speaking to reporters here, he said, if the government had any "shame or self esteem," they should have said on the floor of the House that the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had taken 14 sites in a legal manner, and so did his supporters.
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"It is a Rs 4,000 crore scam. More than one lakh square feet of land that belonged to Dalits has been looted.....we wanted to raise this issue, we were not allowed...the Speaker's conduct in favour of the ruling party is condemnable....Condemning this conduct of the ruling party and the Speaker of suppressing the opposition voice, we are declaring day and night protest. All our MLAs and MLCs will protest day and night against this government," he added.
State BJP President and MLA B Y Vijayendra too said both in the Legislative Assembly and Council "we will do overnight protest to ensure that injustice is not done to Dalits, sites given to Chief Minister's family are taken back and also over 5,000 sites that were illegally allocated."
He accused the Chief Minister of running away from discussion on the MUDA scam by not giving an opportunity to discuss it. "If he had courage he should have told the Speaker to allow for discussion, the Speaker has been misused for not allowing the discussion and the opposition is being suppressed."
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.
The controversial scheme envisages allotting 50 per cent of developed land to the land loser in lieu of undeveloped land acquired for forming layouts.
Meanwhile, amidst the din in the Assembly with the opposition insisting on a discussion over the MUDA scam, four bills -- The finance bill proposing supplementary budget of Rs 8573.72 crore tabled by the Chief Minister, GST (Amendment) Bill, Irrigation (Amendment) Bill, and Municipality and Other Laws Bill -- were passed.
The amendment bills pertained to Medical Registration and Other Law, SC/ST/OBC Reservation of Appointment, Parks Preservation, land revenue and, ancient and historical monuments and archaeological sites and remains were tabled in the Assembly.
Sri Renuka Yellamma Temple Development Authority Bill was also tabled.
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SC to hear pleas for reviewing wages of priests, temple staff
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the wages and other benefits given to priests, 'sevadars' and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta is likely to hear the PIL filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, seeks directions to the Centre and states to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the remuneration and other benefits given to the priests and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
"Petitioner also seeks a declaration that priests and temple staff are employee' under Section 2(k) of the Code on Wages, 2019. Petitioner submits that once the State assumes the administrative, economic and financial control over temples, an employer-employee relationship arises and denial of dignified wages to priests and temple staff violates the right to livelihood guaranteed under Article 21," it said.
Upadhyay said the cause of action accrued on April 4, when he went to Varanasi to attend a public programme and after performing 'Rudrabhishek' in the Kashi Vishwanath temple, which is controlled by the state, he came to know that even the minimum wages to live with dignity are not given to the priests and temple staff.
"Recently, in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, priests and temple staff organised a large-scale protest demanding the minimum wages. Priests and temple staff are not getting even the minimum wage prescribed by the State for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. This is a systemic exploitation. State is acting as a model employer through the endowments department, but violating the minimum wages Act and the directive principles of state policy (Article 43)," it said.
The plea further said the continued refusal to meet the minimum wages with the 2026 inflation-adjusted cost of living index has forced the petitioner to seek judicial intervention to prevent the further marginalisation of priests and temple staff.
Upadhyay further said the precarious nature of livelihood was starkly exposed on February 7, 2025, when a Tamil Nadu department issued a circular at the 'Dandayuthapani Swami Temple' in Madurai, strictly prohibiting priests from accepting 'dakshina' in 'aarti plates'.
"It is necessary to state that priests in such temples often receive no formal salary from the State and rely entirely on 'Dakshina'; the State's administrative order directly threatened them with starvation. Although withdrawn due to public outrage, the incident highlights the State's arbitrary power over the survival of the priests. This is also a bitter truth that States are controlling lakhs of temples but not a single mosque or church," the PIL claimed.
The petition, alternatively, sought direction to the Centre and states to take appropriate steps for the welfare of priests, sevadars and other temple staff in the spirit of the Allahabad High Court's earlier judgments.
