Most legal experts feel that Siddaramaiah has been unnecessarily dragged into this as there is no scam at in the first place.
Ending a long spell of drought, it has been raining well this monsoon season across Karnataka. The Cauvery Valley in the south of Karnataka has also been receiving a good amount of rainfall bringing joy to people and politicians alike.
But Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is not looking happy. That's because he is facing a deluge of corruption charges, both against him and some of his ministers and MLAs in the last one month.
The MUDA, or Mysore Urban Development Authority, “scam” seems to have unnerved the chief minister. The opposition led by the BJP along with its alliance partner JDS has launched an all-out attack on Siddaramaiah demanding his resignation from the office.
They accuse him of getting a prime plot in an important area of Mysore city in lieu for a few acres of agricultural land his reclusive wife Parvathi lost to MUDA in the 1990s.
What’s The "Scam”?
According to the Chief Minister, his wife’s land measuring 3 acres (16 Guntas) was taken over by MUDA without her consent and knowledge to develop residential housing for the people way back in the 1990s.
When she realised that, MUDA allotted her a plot measuring 38,000 square feet in Mysore city as compensation for the lost land. The land acquisition rules allow a 50:50 compensation (50% land and 50% cash component) in such cases and no rule was violated, he claims.
Siddaramaiah even said that she should have got at least Rs 50 crore as compensation in today’s market value, but got only Rs 20 crore in the form of a big plot.
His party men and lawyers also make similar arguments in his favour.
Opposition demands a probe
But the opposition alleges not all who have lost the land have been successful in getting such a largesse from MUDA and it is a clear case of corruption and nepotism.
Under pressure, the state government has constituted a one-man judicial commission headed by a retired High Court judge, P N Desai on Sunday night. The judicial commission has been asked to investigate the matter thoroughly and submit a report to the government.
But it has not calmed the situation and the ongoing Assembly session has been marred by the issue.
CM’s clean image takes a beating
Siddaramaiah is one of the rare politicians who has never been into any businesses or land deals in Karnataka. In his career of 45 years, he has never faced any serious personal allegations of abuse of power. He has always kept his family out of his way and unlike most of the other politicians he never had to defend himself.
This development has taken some sheen from his leadership and the rattled CM is trying his best to defend himself.
His crisis managers and close aides have been digging out details about his political rivals who are also accused of such land dealings to turn the table on the opposition.
It is a well-known fact that Siddaramaiah is close to leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi, who batted for him, when his deputy DK Shivakumar made a serious claim to the post of Chief Minister after the big win in the Assembly election last year.
People close to Siddaramaih fear that it can change Rahul Gandhi’s views on him. But some argue that Rahul Gandhi is aware of the "dirty tricks" of the BJP and he is fully behind the Chief Minister.
After completing one year in office, he is facing some challenges from his own MLAs who are upset over lack of grants to their constituencies. A faction led by Shivakumar is also putting pressure on the high command demanding change of leadership after a year.
Some political analysts even see the invisible hand of Shivakumar in the current crisis. But both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar dismiss it as an opposition plant.
Sympathetic voices for Siddaramaiah
Most legal experts feel that Siddaramaiah has been unnecessarily dragged into this as there is no scam at all in the first place. They argue that there is no taint and the BJP/JDS combine will have to eat humble pie soon.
While the MUDA land "scam" has hit the CM directly, it's the ST development corporation "scam" in which former minister B Nagendra has been arrested which has caused more tensions to ruling Congress. The Chief Minister maintains that there is no question of protecting anyone and all the scams will be investigated as per law.
After a satisfactory performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections and a good monsoon, Siddaramaiah was planning to focus more on administration and delivery of governance. These "scams" seem to have blocked his way, at least temporarily.
