Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday ruled out his resignation, following the Governor granting sanction to prosecute him, in connection with the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam', and said he had done no wrong to step down.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, meanwhile, asked the Karnataka CM to step down to ensure an impartial probe into his alleged role in the "scam" as it welcomed the governor's decision to sanction his prosecution in the case.
Terming Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's decision as 'anti-Constitution and against law', the CM said, "It will be questioned in court and that he will battle it out legally."
"It is a big conspiracy to dislodge the elected government. They (Bharatiya Janata Party) have done this in several states including Delhi, Jharkhand. A conspiracy has been designed to destabilise the elected government in Karnataka also. The central government, the BJP, the Janata Dal-Secular and others are involved in this conspiracy," Siddaramaiah told reporters in Bengaluru.
"High command (of Congress) is with me, the entire Cabinet and the government is with me. All Congress MLAs, MLCs, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members are with me....I have done no wrong to resign," he asserted.
Accusing the opposition of wrong doings and behaving illegally and anti-Constitutionally, he further said, "They are using Raj Bhavan as a political pawn. The Governor is functioning like a puppet in the hands of the Central government."
The Governor has accorded sanction 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 the commission of the alleged offences as mentioned in the petitions of Pradeep Kumar S P, T J Abraham and Snehamayi Krishna.
Stating that such a decision by the Governor was expected, Siddaramaiah said, "We had expected this, I too had expected this. When the Governor on July 26, the very day he received the petition, issued me a show cause notice. What does it mean?"
He said, "There has been a petition seeking sanction for prosecution against JD-S leader (now Union Minister) H D Kumaraswamy since November, also there are petitions against former BJP ministers Shahshikala Jolle, Murugesh Nirani, and Janardhana Reddy. Leaving all of them, if the notice was issued to me, what does it mean?"
"In November, sanction was sought against Kumaraswamy (also former CM) by Lokayukta in an alleged case regarding issue of mining licences, after an inquiry. He was not issued a notice. What does it mean -- that the notice is issued to me (by the Governor)? It is a big conspiracy," he added.
Based on a petition filed by advocate-activist T J Abraham, Governor Gehlot had issued a 'show cause notice' on July 26 directing the chief minister to submit his reply to the allegations against him within seven days as to why permission for prosecution should not be granted against him.
The Karnataka government had on August 1 'strongly advised' the Governor to withdraw his 'show cause notice' to the chief minister and alleged 'gross misuse of the Constitutional Office ' of the Governor. It had also advised him to reject the said application by denying prior approval and sanction as requested by the petitioner Abraham.
Meanwhile, BJP MPs Sambit Patra and Tejasvi Surya, at a press conference, rejected the Congress' allegation that the Governor's decision was motivated by politics and claimed that it was a serious case of corruption involving Siddaramaiah and his family.
Taking a swipe at Mallikarjun Kharge, Patra said the Congress president went to Bengaluru to 'protect' the Karnataka chief minister and wondered when will he go to Kolkata which is witnessing massive protests against the alleged rape and murder of a trainee woman doctor at a West Bengal government-run medical college and hospital.
Surya said the Karnataka government has constituted two commissions, one headed by an ex-IAS officer and another by a former high court judge, to look into the allegations of corruption.
It was an acknowledgement of irregularity, said the BJP MP from Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency.
Congress workers protest in Mysuru
Congress workers, meanwhile, staged a protest here against the permission granted by the Governor to prosecute the CM.
Raising slogans 'Down, Down anti-people BJP and JD-S, down, down to BJP agent governor' and holding placards 'Go back Governor' in Kannada, the Congress workers alleged conspiracy against the AHINDA (an acronym for minorities, backward classes, Dalits and Adivasis) leader.
They also set tyres on fire as a mark of protest in Siddaramaiah's home district.
