MP Kota Srinivas Poojary demands CM Siddaramaiah’s Resignation in MUDA Scam
Udupi: Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Member of Parliament Kota Srinivas Poojary on Friday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah owing moral responsibility to the MUDA scam.
Speaking at a press conference held at the BJP office, Kota challenged Siddaramaiah’s defense that his wife got alternative sites instead of her land acquired by MUDA. He pointed out that alternative site allotment was restricted only to Arkavathi Layout as per the Supreme Court order.
The SC had initially provided for 60:40 sharing between the BDA and the landowner and later made it to 50:50. At no point this ruling could be extended to other urban development authorities; but CM Siddaramaiah made it possible, he said.
Even the alternative site allotment rule, exclusively for Arkavathi Layout, came in 2009 while Parvathi Siddaramaiah’s land was acquired way back in the 1990s. There also, Siddaramaiah played a game, Poojary said. The Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961, did not provide for allotment of stray sites as alternative sites, the MP further said. Alternative sites, if permissible for allotment, had to be provided in the same layout and not in an upmarket area like Vijayanagar where Ms Siddaramaiah got the sites, Poojary explained.
The BJP government, Poojary said, had formed the technical committee headed by Urban Development Department Town Planning Additional Director T.V. Murali in July 2022. While the Committee submitted the preliminary report in three volumes to the government in November 2023 itself, the Siddaramaiah government did not act upon it.
While Ms Siddaramaiah bought the land in 2006-07, Siddaramaiah as the Chief Minister in 2017 directed MUDA to allot alternative sites, Poojary alleged. The allotments were made in 2020 without obtaining government approval.
There were many other irregularities in MUDA after May 2023 which smack of large-scale corruption and scams, Poojary alleged. Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh too should resign, the MP demanded.
