"Not worried or tense": CM Siddaramaiah dismisses opposition claim, says he committed no wrong
Mysuru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said he is "not worried or tense" as claimed by opposition leaders in the wake of Governor's sanction for his prosecution in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment issue, as he has not committed any wrong.
Rather, he said, opposition leaders are worried about their "lies against him not turning true."
"They (opposition) have lied and they are worried about it not proving it as true. I have never lied and have not committed any wrong, so I'm not worried," Siddaramaiah told reporters here in response to a question about him appearing to be relaxed, while the opposition was claiming that he was tense and worried.
The Karnataka High Court on Monday extended till September nine the interim stay on trial court proceedings against the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the MUDA case.
The Court adjourned for a week the hearing on Siddaramaiah's petition challenging the legality of Governor Thaawarchand's sanction for his prosecution in the case.
The Governor on August 16 accorded sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for the commission of the alleged offences as mentioned in the petitions of Pradeep Kumar S P, T J Abraham and Snehamayi Krishna.
On August 19, Siddaramaiah moved the High Court challenging the legality of the Governor's order.
Responding to senior Congress MLA and Administrative Reforms Commission Chairperson R V Deshpande's comments on Sunday expressing his wish to become the Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah said: "Who makes the CM? It is the legislators and the high command, they will decide...."
The Chief Minister on Tuesday visited the Chamundeshwari temple on the Chamundi hill and offered prayers to the goddess there.
He also chaired a meeting of the Chamundeshwari Kshetra Development Authority for the first time after the stay on the implementation of the act passed by the legislature in connection with its formation was vacated by the court.
He noted that the government has formed the Authority. A member of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family Pramoda Devi Wadiyar had obtained a stay on it from the court, which has now been vacated.
When pointed out that the Mysuru royal scion and BJP MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar has written a letter to the government terming the meeting illegal, Siddaramaiah asked: "should we go by the court order or the letter of the MP? We are going by the court."
Asked as to what action will the government take based on retired Karnataka High Court Justice John Michael Cunha headed inquiry commission report regarding alleged irregularities in Covid-19 management when the BJP was in power, the Chief Minister said the report will be placed before the Cabinet at its meeting on Thursday and a decision will be taken.
"We don't know what is there in the report," he said.
Taking a dig at BJP and former Minister K Sudhakar, who was in-charge of the Health Department when the saffron party was in power, for terming the report as "politically motivated," he said: "...does he (Sudhakar) know what is there in the report? I myself don't know, does he know? It is because he had committed a wrong, he is worried....How does he know a false report has been accepted?"
How can someone comment on the report, when it has not yet been made public, he further asked. "It shows his (Sudhakar) guilty consciousness. He knows he has committed wrong. So without seeing a report such comments are being made."
On the suspension of Karnataka Administrative Service Officer G T Dinesh Kumar for alleged irregularities during his tenure as the commissioner of MUDA, Siddaramaiah said it has been done by the Urban Development Department.
When asked as to why action has been taken against one officer, when two were facing allegations, he said: "whoever has committed any wrong, action will be taken against them based on the report of the inquiry commission that has been appointed. Let's see what comes from the inquiry commission report."
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Several Indians inducted into Russian Army remain missing: Report
New Delhi: In a concerning development, several Indians who were illegally enlisted in the Russian Army and forcibly sent to the war zone on the Russia-Ukraine border are reportedly still missing.
According to a report published by The Hindu on Sunday, citing communication from the Ministry of External Affairs and statements from the families of two missing men, Mohammad Amin Sheikh, a 65-year-old resident of Kupwara in Tangdhar, Jammu and Kashmir, said that his 27-year-old son, Zahoor Sheikh, last contacted the family on December 31, 2023.
Amin Sheikh mentioned that his son said that he was going for training and would not be available for the next three months on phone. “But when we started getting news about the deaths of Indians in Russia in January, we got worried and called on his number. We could not reach him. We are yet to hear from him,” Sheikh, a retired Inspector from the Public Health Department in Jammu and Kashmir, was quoted as saying by the publication.
Last week, Mohammad Amin Sheikh and his two other sons travelled to New Delhi to seek answers from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Russian Embassy after the Indian Embassy in Moscow failed to give them information about Zahoor Sheikh.
“We submitted a petition at the Russian Embassy,” 31-year-old Aijaz Amin, Zahoor Sheikh’s elder brother, told The Hindu. “They said they are looking into the matter. The MEA officials said that at least 15 Indians are still missing and though the Russian government is cooperative, their commanders on the ground are not responsive,” he added.
Zahoor had travelled to Russia after he came across a YouTube video promising the job of a security helper in Russia. Instead, he was reportedly deceived into joining the Russian Army.
Similarly, 30-year-old Mandeep, from Jalandhar in Punjab, has been missing since March. His brother, Jagdeep Kumar, also arrived in Delhi, looking for answers from the government about his sibling's whereabouts.
“We last spoke on March 3. He initially went to Armenia and was supposed to go to Italy from there in search of work. Instead, he was tricked by an agent to go to Russia and was forced to join the Russian Army. He was sent to the war zone after a few days of training,” Kumar told The Hindu.
Kumar said he met officials from the External Affairs Ministry in the capital city, who told him that at least 25 Indians were reported missing in Russia.
