At a time when Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has faced the heat over his wife Parvathi's own role in grabbing 14 sites in the Mysuru upmarket, she has written to the MUDA Commissioner expressing her willingness to return the sites .
The letter by Parvathi was circulated late night among reporters by the CMO on the official WhatsApp group.
Significantly, Enforcement Directorate officials said on Monday that the agency has booked Siddaramaiah along with his wife and some others in a money laundering case linked to the MUDA land allotment case, taking cognisance of a recent state Lokayukta FIR. A special court exclusively dealing with criminal cases related to former and elected MPs/MLAs had directed the Lokayukta police in Mysuru to launch an investigation into the matter.
Admission of guilt': BJP reasons Karnataka CM's resignation due to this. The BJP termed Parvathi's letter to the MUDA Commissioner as "admission of guilt" and demanded that the Karnataka CM resign.
In her letter to the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Commissioner, Parvathi said she was allotted the 14 alternative sites in the third and fourth phase of Vijayanagar in Mysuru against the 'usage' of her three acres and 16 Guntas of land in Kesare village under Kasaba Hobli in Mysuru "without even acquiring it."
"I am prepared to hand over the 14 sites in lieu of cancellation of the sale deed. I desire MUDA to take possession of these sites. I request you to take steps in this direction at the earliest," Parvathi said in her letter.
The letter comes against the backdrop of Karnataka Lokayukta police registering a case against Siddaramaiah on the directions of a special court in connection with the land allotment.
The Lokayukta police establishment based in Mysuru has filed an FIR against Siddaramaiah, his wife B M Parvathi, brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, and Devaraju, from whom Swamy had purchased land and gifted it to Parvathi, and others.
The ED took cognisance of the case and slapped sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Siddaramaiah in its enforcement case information report (ECIR), which is equivalent to a police FIR, according to agency officials.
The process empowers the ED to summon the accused for questioning and even attach his assets during an investigation.
In a separate letter to people at large, Parvathi said Siddaramaiah has lived an unblemished public life and she too led a life not to embarrass him and bring a bad name to him.
She was hurt after the allegations were made with regard to the MUDA sites. She said she had never imagined that the land gifted to her by her brother would lead to so much of controversy.
"I can never tolerate my husband facing unjust allegations. Nothing including the property, wealth and house are more precious to me than the honour and dignity of my husband. Hence, I have decided to return my 14 sites, which are the reason behind the controversy," she said.
The CM's wife maintained that she has not taken the opinion of Siddaramaiah or her son Yathindra before taking this decision.
Parvathi also said she did not return the site till now because she thought she should fight it out against the political conspiracy against her husband.
She appealed to the opposition parties and media not to drag and tarnish the women from the families of politicians for political reasons.
Reacting to the development, the BJP called the letter "an admission of guilt." "Instead of sending his (Siddaramaiah) resignation letter, a redemption letter is being written," BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said.
He said she has written to the MUDA commissioner expressing her willingness to return the 14 sites that she had been allotted to evade investigation in the case.
"If no wrong was committed, then why are you returning (the sites)? That too when the orders of the High Court and special court came, an FIR was registered and ED case also started," asked Poonawalla.
"A letter of guilt has come. Corruption happened (in MUDA site allocation). Now the letter of redemption won't work. It's time for Siddaramaiah to resign. He does not have any moral right to continue as the chief minister," the BJP spokesperson said.
In the MUDA site allotment case it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru which held a higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by the MUDA.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout.
Under the much-debated scheme, MUDA had handed over 50 percent of developed land to the land losers as a compromise for the undeveloped land taken from them to create residential layouts .
It has been alleged that Parvathi did not possess any legal title to this 3.16-acre land.
Karnataka High Court had earlier upheld Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's sanction for a probe against the CM on charges of illegalities in the allotment of the sites.
76-year-old Siddaramaiah had last week asserted he was being targeted in the MUDA issue as the opposition was "scared" of him.
He has also restated that he would not resign since he had done nothing wrong and emphasized that he would fight the case legally.
Read also| HM Shah Calls Kharge's Remarks on PM 'Distasteful and Disgraceful'
