“The (Congress) high command is with me, the entire Cabinet and the government are with me. All Congress MPs, Congressmen, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members are with me… I have done nothing wrong by resigning,” he said. (Photo: PTI)
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday ruled out his resignation after the Governor granted sanction to prosecute him in connection with the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment scam, saying he had done nothing wrong by resigning.
He called Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s decision “contrary to the Constitution and law” and said it will be challenged in court and he will resolve it in court.
“It is a big conspiracy to topple the elected government. They (BJP) have done it in several states including Delhi and Jharkhand. A conspiracy has been hatched to destabilise the elected government in Karnataka as well. The central government, BJP, JD(S) and others are involved in this conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah told reporters.
“The (Congress) high command is with me, the entire Cabinet and the government are with me. All Congress MLAs, Congressmen, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members are with me… I have done nothing wrong by resigning,” he said.
Accusing the opposition of acting illegally and unconstitutionally, he added: “They are using Raj Bhavan as a political pawn. The governor is functioning as a puppet in the hands of the central government.”
The Governor has granted sanctions against the Chief Minister under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for commission of the alleged offences mentioned in the petitions of Pradeep Kumar SP, TJ Abraham and Snehamayi Krishna.
Siddaramaiah said such a move from the governor was expected. “We were expecting it, I was expecting it too. When the governor, on July 26, the same day he received the petition, he sent me a notice to file the petition. What does that mean?”
He said, “A petition seeking sanction of prosecution against JD(S) leader (now Union Minister) HD Kumaraswamy has been filed since November, and there are also petitions against former BJP Ministers Shahshikala Jolle, Murugesh Nirani and Janardhana Reddy. Leaving all of them, if the notice was sent to me, what does it mean?”
“In November, after an inquiry, the Lokayukta had sought sanction against Kumaraswamy (also a former Chief Minister). No notice was issued to him. What does it mean that the notice was issued to me by the Governor? It is a big conspiracy,” he added.
Based on a petition filed by advocate and activist TJ Abraham, Governor Gehlot had issued a ‘show cause notice’ on July 26 directing the Chief Minister to file his reply to the allegations against him within seven days explaining why permission should not be granted for the prosecution.
On August 1, the Karnataka government had “strongly advised” the Governor to withdraw his “show cause notice” to the Chief Minister and alleged “gross abuse of constitutional office” by the Governor. It had also advised him to reject the said application by denying the prior approval and sanction sought by the petitioner Abraham.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: August 17, 2024 | 17:11 IS
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