The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) on Thursday resolved to condemn Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot’s move to sanction the prosecution of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the MUDA scam and to unanimously extend support to the chief minister.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who addressed a press meet at Vidhana Soudha following the CLP meeting said, “The CLP has resolved to condemn the governor’s move to allow prosecution of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah under Section 17(a) without any preliminary investigation. Senior legislator R.V. Deshpande proposed the motion, while MLA Tanveer Sait seconded it.”
The CLP meeting was attended by all the legislators of both houses and party MPs except for six MLAs who are in Delhi for a training programme mandated by the Assembly speaker U.T. Khader, informed Shivakumar.
“We appeal to the governor to withdraw his sanction. It would help restore the Constitution. The governor must withdraw the sanction in order to save the dignity of the chair," added Shivakumar.
The meeting ahead of the CM and DCM's visit to Delhi on Friday seemed to send a strong message to the party high command that the Siddaramaiah continued to enjoy the confidence of all the legislators at a time when the opposition parties - BJP and JDS are demanding his resignation over his alleged involvement in the MUDA site allotment scam.
Also, the chief minister and the party have been facing huge embarrassment after the governor sanctioned the prosecution of the CM, who has now challenged the sanction order before the High Court.
Siddaramaiah who got a breather after the HC deferred all proceedings in the MUDA case in the trial court till August 29, the next date of hearing in the high court, is preparing for a long legal battle with three separate private complainants petitioning the special court for elected representatives on the issue. But the real battle lies in holding the flock together as a weak leadership would not only destabilise the government but also lose the confidence of party workers and the voters alike.
“The people of Karnataka have supported us by giving us 136 seats. The BJP and JDS are trying to destabilise a democratically elected government. They will not be able to unseat the government, as everyone in the party stands with the CM today,” said Shivakumar, who is also the state party chief.
Drawing a parallel between Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Parliament and the BJP's bid to oust Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar said, "We have faith that the courts will give us justice. The BJP had conspired to remove our leader Rahul Gandhi from the Parliament citing a breach of rules in a speech. Now, they are conspiring to unseat Siddaramaiah."
Asked if the INDIA bloc supported the Congress party on this matter, Shivakumar said that the INDIA bloc took birth in Bengaluru and had secured 234 seats in the country.