Siddaramaiah has only himself to blame: Kumaraswamy on CM's wife getting 'dragged' into MUDA scam

Bengaluru: JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday hit out at Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for accusing the opposition of dragging his wife in the MUDA case and blamed the latter's 'wrongs' for the woes.

The Union Minister also challenged Siddaramaiah for a debate on the Congress government's achievements and developmental activities so far.

"Time and again you (Siddaramaiah) say the opposition is jealous and you are accusing the opposition of dragging your wife (into the MUDA case). You have brought your wife, who was respectfully at home, out (in this case). It is not done by us, the opposition. You have brought her out because of wrongs you have committed (in her name)," Kumaraswamy said.

Addressing reporters here, he said, "repeatedly you (Siddaramaiah) speak about AHINDA, what have you done for AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits)? Haven't we seen what has happened in Valmiki Corporation (scam), the loot that has happened."

Pointing to CM's emotional appeal to people if they would forgive the opposition for targeting his wife over the MUDA 'scam', Kumaraswamy said, "Whether people will forgive or accept us, they will decide later. Let him ask the people what they will do to him (Siddaramaiah) for this kind of governance..." Siddaramaiah had on Saturday come down heavily on the opposition BJP and the JD(S) for dragging his wife Parvathi B M in the MUDA case, who had never stepped into public life and was confined to her house.

He also charged the opposition with targeting him because they could not tolerate a person from a backward community in the Chief Minister’s post.

Siddaramaiah is facing the Lokayukta and ED probes into alleged irregularities in allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

His wife Parvathi, brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, Devaraju -- from whom Mallikarjuna Swamy purchased land and gifted it to Parvathi -- and others are named as other accused in the case.

Alleging that the Congress government is entangled in scams, Kumaraswamy said, "No ministers including the Chief Minister have any concern for the troubles faced by the people... they speak about development, only god should save us."

He challenged Siddaramaiah for a discussion on achievements and development work of the current Congress government led by him, with that of his (Kumaraswamy) 14 months JD(S)-Congress coalition government in 2018-19.

Claiming that he had to function as CM without proper cooperation from the Congress during the coalition government, Kumaraswamy said, "JD(S) had only 38 MLAs then... what all you (Siddaramaiah/Congress) did then? Today you are saying Kumaraswamy didn't work for 14 months." Citing rain-related issues reported in the last couple of days in parts of the city, Kumaraswamy said, "A deadline was set to fill potholes... we are seeing the quality of the work that was done, following this rains."

Not only in Bengaluru, in several parts of the state the post monsoon rains are more than expected, leading to damage of crops and people facing trouble, he said, while accusing the government of 'failing' to address the issues.