MUDA scam rocks Karnataka politics and Siddaramaiah’s leadership

At the heart of the wrangle are 14 sites that were allotted to Parvathi, the Chief Minister’s wife, in 2017.

JD(S) and BJP leaders and supporters during a Padayatra led by H.D. Kumaraswamy and B.Y. Vijayendra towards Mandya on August 7, 2024, protesting the state government’s alleged involvement in the MUDA scam. | Photo Credit: HANDOUT E MAIL

Riding high on its massive success in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly Elections in 2023, few would have predicted that the Congress would find itself besieged, in a little more than a year, by a scandal. This is even more surprising because, since the beginning of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s political career almost five decades ago, there have hardly been any allegations of corruption levelled against him; the general opinion was that he was among the rare breed of ‘clean’ politicians to have thrived in Karnataka’s politics.

This spotless impression, though, has been marred by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (Secular)’s (JDS) consistent accusations since early July that Siddaramaiah’s wife benefited from illegal site allotments by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA). Intending to raise the ante, leaders of the two parties also organised a week-long padayatra in early August from Bengaluru to Mysuru demanding the resignation of Siddaramaiah.

The accusations became grave after the Governor, Thawar Chand Gehlot, sanctioned the prosecution of Siddaramaiah on August 17 based on complaints from three ‘activists’ despite contrary advice from the Council of Ministers (on August 1) leading to serious questions on the role of the Governor and the scope of federal jurisdiction.

In his six-page decision communicated to the Chief Secretary of Karnataka, the Governor stated that he sanctioned the prosecution of Siddaramaiah “under Section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarika Suraksha Samhita, 2023.” In ignoring the advice of the Council of Ministers, the Governor justified his position based on the “well settled legal principle that the person against who, allegations are made, should not be empowered to decide the course of action.” He concluded his decision by stating that he was “satisfied that sanction be accorded against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the allegations of having committed the offences…”

The Governor’s action has ratcheted up the political heat in Karnataka with both the BJP and the Congress planning State-wide protests today. According to sources close to the Chief Minister, his legal team will also be approaching the High Court challenging the Governor’s sanction very soon. Siddaramaiah’s political opponents are also providing the precedent of B.S. Yediyurappa who stepped down as Chief Minister in 2011 after the then-Governor, H.R. Bhardwaj, sanctioned his prosecution in the iron ore mining scam to buttress their demand that Siddaramaiah resign.

How did the MUDA scam acquire such a proportion that it now threatens the Chief Ministership of Siddaramaiah? At the heart of the complex wrangle are 14 sites that were allotted to Parvathi, Siddaramaiah’s wife, in 2017. This allotment was in lieu of agricultural land of 3.16 acres that belonged to Parvathi, which was acquired by MUDA. (This land parcel in question was purchased by Parvathi’s brother in 2004 and was gifted to her in 2010).

Women and Congress supporters protest after the Karnataka Governor sanctioned the prosecution of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Mysuru on August 18. | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement

According to the BJP and JD(S), the charge goes like this: when Parvathi’s brother bought the land in 2004, it was not agricultural land and the land had already been formed into a layout; a land parcel already allotted to individuals by MUDA cannot be claimed to be agricultural land; non-existent agricultural land cannot be acquired by MUDA. Siddaramaiah was Chief Minister in 2017 when his wife was allotted the 14 sites and he ordered that MUDA no longer forward land allotment processes to the State government; MUDA introduced a 50:50 ratio compensation (meaning land owners get back half the land in the form of developed plots) for land in 2020 so Siddaramaiah cannot apply this ratio for his earlier case when compensations were lower; Parvathi was allotted 14 sites (totalling 38,284 sqft) in a posh area of Mysuru because of this misapplication of the rule. Thus, the implication is that all this was planned by Siddaramaiah along with conniving bureaucrats.

Siddaramaiah has staunchly defended these charges and he makes his case arguing for the legality of the transfer to his wife in the following way: Mallikarjuna Swamy (brother-in-law of Siddaramaiah) bought the property in 2004; in 2005, Mallikarjuna submitted an application to the Deputy Commissioner of Mysore (now Mysuru) for change of land use which was granted; in 2010, Mallikarjuna gifted the land parcel to his sister, Parvathi; this land was illegally acquired by MUDA to form a layout; acknowledging its mistake, MUDA allotted 14 sites to Parvathi in 2021 and this was sanctioned by a committee comprising BJP and JD(S) leaders.

Back to 1935

To support these divergent stands, both the Congress and BJP-JD(S) alliance have released tranches of documents going back to 1935. Siddaramaiah also appointed a one-man judicial commission headed by a former judge of the High Court of Karnataka, P.N. Desai, to consider the allocations made by MUDA between 2006 and 2024. Dissatisfied by this, BJP and JD(S) leaders have demanded a probe by the CBI. The Governor’s sanction has increased the pressure on Siddaramaiah and the Congress with Union Minister Pralhad Joshi stating that Siddaramaiah must resign taking “moral responsibility.”

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar at a press conference at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on August 17. The event follows Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s sanction for Siddaramaiah’s prosecution in the alleged MUDA land scam case. | Photo Credit: The Hindu

Siddaramaiah himself has refused to resign and has, over the past month, demonstrated his strength and leadership by organising gatherings of MLAs and ministers endorsing his stand. He has accused the Governor of being a representative of the “Union Government and the BJP.” The Congress has presented a united front in the face of these allegations with senior ministers including Deputy Chief Minister, D.K. Shivakumar, stating that there is no question of Siddaramaiah’s resignation. In a cabinet meeting on August 17, the Council of Ministers “condemned” the Governor’s decision.

Even the party’s high command has backed Siddaramaiah with General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala characterising the Governor’s action as “political vendetta” and describing him as a “puppet of the Central Government.” Crucial support for the Chief Minister has come from a variety of AHINDA (a Kannada abbreviation that stands for Religious Minorities, Backward Castes and Dalits) forums and even pontiffs of Backward Caste mutts who have threatened State-wide agitations in case Siddaramaiah is forced to step down. Members of the liberal progressive Kannada literati and intelligentsia who share a symbiotic relationship with the Chief Minister have also come out in his support and have cast the accusations against him as an effort to dull the sharp thrust of his social justice policies.

Siddaramaiah’s position may also be strengthened because of the TINA (There is no Alternative) factor as there is no other mass leader of his calibre within the party apparatus in Karnataka. The Lok Sabha elections clearly showed that the Congress lost a substantial chunk of the dominant-caste support base to the BJP-JD(S) alliance meaning that its current support base is mainly restricted to the AHINDA agglomeration whose undisputed leader is Siddaramaiah.