Karnataka BJP President Vijayendra, Party Workers Detained During Protest Over MUDA 'Scam'

The BJP protest convoy, consisting of over 600 cars, was halted at Kaniminike by the Bengaluru police, who cited potential traffic disruptions as the reason for the intervention.

Karnataka BJP President BY Vijayendra, along with party workers and leaders, were detained by the Karnataka police while protesting against the state government over alleged irregularities in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) on Friday. The protest, led by Vijayendra, aimed to highlight fraudulent allotments of sites to land losers by MUDA, implicating Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife.

The protest convoy, consisting of over 600 cars, was halted at Kaniminike, Kumbalagodu by Bengaluru police, who cited potential traffic disruptions as the reason for the intervention.

Addressing the MUDA irregularities, Vijayendra demanded an impartial investigation, rejecting the idea of a state government-headed Special Investigation Team (SIT). He called for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, emphasizing that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should resign due to his alleged involvement.  "Not only the CM's family but many ministers and their relatives are also involved in this scam. It is a scam of more than Rs 5000 crores. So the CM cannot escape responsibility. Being the CM of the state, he should answer to the people of Karnataka. We demand that he should hand over the investigation of this case to the CBI," he said.

 

The BJP has accused MUDA of improperly allotting an alternate site to the Chief Minister's wife as compensation for acquired land, contrary to rules designed to prevent such benefits. The controversial scheme allots 50 percent of developed land to those losing property in lieu of the undeveloped land acquired for forming layouts, as per a report on PTI.

On BJP protest over MUDA scam, Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar said, "There is nothing, it is all political scam. They (BJP) are just trying to do politics. Whatever has been done, it is done in the BJP tenure. They just want to put Karnataka in a bad shape..."

"It’s existential crisis for the BJP and they are doing whatever they can to be in public glam. They are not coming forth with any document. How they are saying this is a scam?” said Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge.

Earlier, Siddaramaiah denied the allegations, asserting that he was being unfairly targeted. He claimed that the accusations were part of a conspiracy against him, motivated by resentment due to his background and his position as Chief Minister for a second term.