Surrender of MUDA sites: A move to circumvent interrogation?

Siddaramaiah, who has fashioned himself as the champion of AHINDA, is unlikely to throw in the towel easily, much less go down without fighting

The decision of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi to surrender 14 sites allotted by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) is being viewed as a face saving exercise by the Chief Minister’s family and possibly an effort to avoid interrogation of Ms. Parvathi, who has so far abstained from public appearances and media glare.

Many in the political circles have questioned the timing of the surrender of sites and argued that it was a decision taken probably to delay the process of investigation, questioning/searches of the residences of the Chief Minister and his family members by the officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Mysuru Lokayukta, and gain public sympathy.

Role of Governor, ED

Though a Congress party functionary termed the surrender of sites as “better late than never”, Mr. Siddaramaiah finds himself in a sticky situation following complaints from three social activists, with the Governor taking action on them with alacrity, and endorsement from the judiciary.  In other non-BJP ruled States, interventions by Central agencies such as CBI, IT/ED have played a critical role in arrest, such as in the case of Aam Aadmi Party chief and former Delhi Chief Minister Aravind Kejriwal and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in different alleged scams. They were jailed for varying periods.

The Opposition termed the decision to surrender sites as “confession of guilt” by the Chief Minister, who first denied a debate on the issue in the Legislative Assembly claiming that he had done nothing wrong. He even said that his family would have to be paid a compensation of ₹62 crore for encroachment of his family’s 3.16 acres land by the MUDA if the sites have to be returned. He has consistently been ruling out resignation since the alleged scam broke out.

It is also argued that the issue, which has now blown up, might have fizzled out when if it was allowed to be debated in the legislature and Mr. Siddaramaiah had surrendered the sites in keeping with his image of a principled politician, who first became the Minister in the Ramakrishna Hegde-led government. Back in February 2016, Mr. Siddaramaiah had surrendered an expensive Hublot watch gifted to him after the Opposition BJP and the JD(S) raised the issue in the legislature and petitioned the ED.

Safe for now

However, the government is safe as of now. Mr. Siddaramaiah as well as ruling Congress Ministers, including his Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, are presenting a brave front claiming that there is no danger to the government.

Mr. Siddaramaiah, who has fashioned himself as the champion of AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes, and Dalits), is unlikely to throw in the towel easily, much less go down without fighting. Mr. Shivakumar, who has been eagerly awaiting his turn to hold the reins, seems to be playing a waiting game.

Sources in the Karnataka Congress said the party high command would adopt a “go slow approach” and it would intervene only if developments further embarrass the party at the national level in the fight against the Central government.

Published - October 01, 2024 09:32 pm IST