Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife B.M. Parvathi has expressed her intent to surrender the 14 residential sites allotted to her by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
In a letter to the MUDA commissioner, Parvathi stated that she was returning the 14 sites of varied dimensions allotted to her in Vijayanagara 3rd and 4th stages in Mysuru, which was given as compensation by the MUDA for having utilised her land - 3 acres 16 guntas in Kesare village, survey no. 464, Kasaba Hobli and Mysuru taluk, sans any land acquisition.
"I seek to cancel the sale deed executed in my favour by the MUDA and surrender the sites. I urge the authorities to take necessary action in this regard at the earliest," states the letter signed by Parvathi. Siddaramaiah took to social media to express his surprise over his wife’s decision to surrender the sites.
"My wife is distressed over the political conspiracy hatched against me and has decided to return the sites. Her decision has come as a surprise to me. In the four decades of my political career, she has, not once, interfered in my public life and confined herself to the household. It is now a known fact that my opponents filed a false case against me and dragged my family into it. I regret that my wife had to endure mental agony due to the political conspiracies against me. However, I respect her decision to surrender the sites," wrote Siddaramaiah on X.
In an open letter, Parvathi expressed her anguish over the allegations against her husband in the MUDA case and stated that she had never imagined that a land gifted to her by her brother would create such a mess. "I am shocked by the allegations made in the MUDA case. I had never expected that these sites would one day lead to my husband unnecessarily facing allegations. No house or property is greater than the dignity and peace of my husband. All these years that my husband has been in power, I sought nothing for myself or my family. And these sites hold no value to me. So I have decided to surrender the sites to MUDA," stated Parvathi, adding that she had not discussed the matter with her husband or her son.
"I have taken the decision based on my own conscience. I wanted to surrender the sites the day these allegations had surfaced. But after my well-wishers told me that the allegations were politically motivated and I should not yield to their ploy, I decided to fight against the injustice. However, I have now resolved to surrender the sites and seek a comprehensive inquiry into the MUDA allegations," said Parvathi, who also appealed to the media and the political leaders to desist from dragging women who have nothing to do with politics into the controversies.
"I urge the media and political party leaders not to attack the dignity and privacy of women belonging to political families but not in public life, by dragging them into controversies out of political rivalry," said Parvathi, who earlier hailed her husband’s 40-year-long political career as "blemish-free".
Asserting that her husband had observed morality in public life like a "vow", Parvathi said she too was always cautious and safeguarded his image and refrained from doing anything that could tarnish his image. “I have never craved any gold or property. I was always happy just watching him being loved and admired by people, from a distance," said Parvathi.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a complaint (ECIR) against Siddaramaiah and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on the FIR filed by Mysuru Lokayukta police, to probe into the alleged irregularities in the allotment of the 14 sites estimated to cost Rs 52 crore.
BJP leader and leader of Opposition R Ashok said the chief minister surrendering the land indicated that he had accepted his mistake.
"Our fight has yielded results. The chief minister who was in denial has now admitted to his mistake and has surrendered the sites. But a thief does not become innocent just because he returned the booty. You (CM) have to face the probe. We will continue our fight till you step down as the CM to pave the way for a fair and transparent investigation," said Ashok.