The BJP in Karnataka has upped the ante with its protests against alleged corruption by the ruling Congress government in the state. The opposition party claims the Congress has no moral right to continue in power after “a series of corruption scandals”, including the alleged Valmiki money transfer scam. Now, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is under scrutiny for land allocation to his wife from the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
Ironically, the BJP had lost power in Karnataka in 2023 over a series of corruption charges against its government and then chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. Later, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Karnataka BJP launched a campaign against the Congress, claiming that freebies were ruining the state’s economy, but the pitch did not resonate with voters.
“The Congress has been running a corrupt government, and it is there for all to see. Scams after scams are unravelling. Scam worth more than Rs 4,000 crore took place when Siddaramaiah was chief minister in the previous tenure. Now these are being added to their kitty. Neither the people nor the BJP will be mute spectators to this. We will expose them at every point. In the MUDA case, we want the CBI to investigate as we don’t expect a fair investigation by the SIT the CM may constitute,” Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra told News18.
The BJP has been conducting protests across the state on various issues, hoping to put the Congress under pressure. These include allegations of embezzlement by a government official working with the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation, as well as controversies surrounding hikes in rates of fuel, electricity, and excise.
Former minister B Nagendra was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Friday during a probe into Rs 88.62 crore allegedly being illicitly credited to accounts associated with IT companies and a Hyderabad-based cooperative bank. The ED has been conducting raids across Bengaluru, Raichur, and Ballari as part of its investigation into how unauthorised transfers worth Rs 187 crore were made from the bank accounts of the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has also come under fire after his wife Parvathi, who owned 3 acres of land in Kesare village of Mysuru, a gift from her brother Mallikarjun, allegedly had her land taken away by MUDA. In 2021, under the BJP rule in Karnataka, she was compensated with plots totalling 38,283 sq ft in the Vijayanagar area, a prime locality in Mysuru. The BJP claims this to be a scam, alleging that the market value of the plot of land was much higher than her original land value in Kesare. Siddaramaiah countered, saying that his wife was entitled to compensation. The BJP disagrees.
“It is a scam of over Rs 5,000 crore where the wife of the chief minister of the state has benefitted. The CM cannot escape from his responsibility and is answerable to the people of the state. Let him share the documents and bring out the truth. They claim it was during the BJP rule that the allocation took place. Why are they not coming clean? Obviously, there is something fishy,” BY Vijayendra said.
Siddaramaiah dismissed the BJP allegations and denied that there was any scam under his rule. He called the protests by the BJP politically motivated to mislead the people of the state. “Was it not the BJP who did it?” questioned the CM on the MUDA land allocation.
A complaint was filed against Siddaramaiah and nine others on Wednesday for allegedly forging documents to claim compensation from the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
The Congress, which came to power building its election campaign on corruption charges against the then ruling BJP, now finds itself in a fix, having to fight corruption charges itself.
“Only an agency like the CBI can probe the issue impartially. There is clear evidence that the CM is involved in the MUDA land allocation, and he must resign immediately. The state government’s SIT will not be able to investigate fairly. Our effort will continue to protest every single day until we see justice being delivered. Be it the multi-crore MUDA case or the Valmiki funds scam, even their leaders themselves saying there is rampant corruption, what does this show?” said Vijayendra.
The Congress has hit back at the BJP, saying the saffron party must first look within.
“The BJP is just politicising it. If there are corruption charges, let them be proved first, be it the Valmiki case or MUDA. In the MUDA case, it is the BJP that needs to justify why they gave the land to us, we don’t need to justify why we bought the land,” said Karnataka Labour Minister Santosh Lad. The question of corruption does not arise with the Congress because the land was given during the BJP government, Lad explained.
BY Vijayendra countered by saying that the tenure under which the MUDA allocation took place is not what is in question, but the eligibility of the CM’s wife to the compensation. He said that the CM’s wife was not eligible for 14 sites and that the sale deed showed she was eligible for only two sites. Land that should have been given to the poor is being given to the CM’s family and industrial people, he alleged.
“Siddaramaiah was former CM and the Leader of the Opposition then, and his son was an MLA and MUDA chairman as well. Was that allocation done under pressure to allot her more than her share? Was the CM not aware of how much land his wife owns? He cannot escape responsibility by saying it was the BJP government then. That is our claim,” Vijayendra said.
Reacting to Nagendra being arrested, minister Lad said that the leader, on moral grounds, has resigned. Three agencies are probing the Valmiki scam — the SIT formed by the state government, the Central Bureau of Investigation, and the Enforcement Directorate. To date, 11 people have been arrested, and the SIT has recovered Rs 14.5 crore of the diverted money.
“First the Prime Minister should resign on the issue of electoral bonds, which is one of the biggest frauds in the history of the country. Nagendra resigned, the SIT is investigating, the CBI and ED are also investigating, What else does the BJP want?” he further questioned.
Lad challenged the BJP to speak about the coal scam, electoral bonds, the NEET exam scam, the railway accidents, terror attacks, and the collapse of infrastructure, including airports and roads. “These are issues they do not want to talk about,” he said.
Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge pointed out that when such allegations are floated, they sow seeds of doubt among the people. The Congress plans to take on the BJP in the upcoming monsoon session of the Assembly.
“When will the BJP speak about the pending disproportionate assets case pending in the SC against them? Be it the electoral bonds or even the POCSO case against their leader. They should be embarrassed. They should clean their house first,” Kharge told News18.
