Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah meets Governor Tawar Chand Gehlot at the Raj Bhavan. File photo: Special Arrangement
Karnataka has been witnessing political theatrics for over a week with the ruling Congress accusing the Raj Bhavan of ‘taking instruction’ from the BJP to destabilise the democratically elected government. The government has locked horns with Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot after he issued a show cause notice to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The notice questioned why sanction to prosecute Mr. Siddaramaiah should not be given to probe the alleged irregularities in the distribution of sites to his wife by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) in lieu of land acquired from her.
A meeting of the Council of Ministers, chaired by Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar — after the Chief Minster stayed away from the Cabinet — advised the Governor to withdraw the notice and reject the request seeking sanction for prosecution. The Congress High Command, which has so far rallied behind the Chief Minister and asked his Cabinet colleagues to stay united, has indicated its willingness to take the fight against what it calls the ‘anti-democratic and anti-constitution move of the Governor’ to the streets and mount a legal battle.
The alleged MUDA irregularities pertain to the compensatory allotment of residential sites under a 50:50 scheme, where the land loser receives 50% of the developed land. Chief Minister’s wife Parvathi is alleged to have been allotted 14 sites under a 50:50 scheme in lieu of three acres and 16 guntas acquired by MUDA to develop a layout. She benefitted from the scheme during the BJP’s rule in 2023 when Mr. Siddaramaiah was the Leader of the Opposition.
While the alleged irregularities in the scheme had been in the public domain for nearly a year, it assumed importance when it was revealed that a family member of the Chief Minister from Mysuru district was a beneficiary. Several political leaders across the spectrum are also alleged to be the beneficiaries.
Facing intense pressure for the first time in this tenure, Mr. Siddaramaiah and his supporters have steadfastly denied the irregularities, citing legal and procedural provisions.
Before issuing the show cause notice, the Governor sought clarifications from the government on two occasions. Clarifications were provided by the Chief Secretary on one occasion and by the Chief Minister during a personal meeting on another occasion.
Eventually, on July 26, the Governor issued a show cause notice, giving the Chief Minister a week’s time to respond. On the last day of the deadline, the Council of Ministers advised the Governor to withdraw the notice and reject the request for prosecution sanction.
Showing solidarity with the Chief Minister, the government fielded eight senior Ministers to speak on the decision of the council of Ministers. Terming the Governor’s action as “done in haste and without application of mind”, they argued that under Article 163 of the Constitution, the Governor lacks the discretion to serve a show cause notice to the Chief Minister without a report from an inquiry or investigating agency. In 2011 when the then Governor H.R. Bhardwaj gave prosecution sanction against then Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, the Governor had the Lokayukta report, they contended, adding that the provisions in the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, has also been modified since then. They also pointed out that the Governor’s action was premature since a complaint had been made with the Lokayukta.
A Minister, who did not wish to be named, said that the party was anticipating a “replay of the rule book under the BJP’s standard operating procedure” deployed by Governors in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Jharkhand, and were expecting Mr. Gehlot to sanction prosecution.
The BJP and JD(S) have been unrelenting in their demand for the Chief Minister’s resignation and are on a 140-Kilometers padayatra to Mysuru from Bengaluru. In response, the Congress has been holding the Janandolana programme in big towns en route the padayatra to fight “misinformation”, and mocked BJP for staging a protest against itself as the 50:50 scheme was implemented during the BJP regime.
As Mr. Siddaramaiah, who has prided himself on his “corruption-free four-decade political career” braces to fight the allegations, all eyes are now on the Governor’s next move.
