Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Feb 26: BJP Rajya Sabha member Lahar Singh Siroya has raised concerns over the Karnataka Lokayukta’s indictment of Congress MP G. Kumar Naik in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam, questioning whether Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, will demand Naik’s resignation.
Siroya took to social media to express his views, stating, “I read in the papers today that the Lokayukta investigation report has said that the MUDA scam, involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s family, was due to the illegalities committed by G. Kumar Naik, the then Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru, and three other officers.”
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He added, “G. Kumar Naik quit the IAS suddenly before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and is now a sitting Congress MP from Raichur in Karnataka. Can we read his Lok Sabha ticket as a huge compensation for the favours he delivered to Congress leaders while in service? As an officer, has he committed other such illegalities like the MUDA scam, to receive big political favours from the Congress party? Was AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge aware of his integrity as an IAS officer? Is the State government machinery working overtime to throw officers under the bus to save the Chief Minister and his family? Will this become counterproductive? Is this not going to demoralise the state’s bureaucracy?”
Siroya further questioned whether Naik would face any consequences now that he has retired from the IAS, saying, “Now that Kumar Naik has retired from service, will he be penalised? Or has he become immune to action? Will the Indian National Congress, Karnataka Congress unit, and Rahul Gandhi, who speak of morality all the time, get Naik to resign as Raichur MP? Or will they brazen it out because they are great liberals who are working to ‘save’ Indian democracy?”
The BJP leader also pointed out that the investigation report cleared Siddaramaiah and his family of any involvement in the illegal allocation of 14 sites. “This is an admission that the MUDA scam is real and not fictitious, as some Congressmen have tried to argue. This scam is nobody’s witch hunt but their own doing,” Siroya remarked.
Siroya further speculated, “Did the officers act on their own, or were they pressured to commit illegalities by their political masters? It is difficult to believe that an IAS officer violates the law and creates fictitious records out of his own sweet will. He must have come under pressure, and in return, he must have sought protection and compensation.”
In his critique, Siroya suggested that a CBI enquiry might be needed to further investigate the possibility of political pressure on the officers involved, saying, “It may still not be late to seek one in the light of the Lokayukta report.”
The Karnataka Lokayukta’s report cleared Chief Minister Siddaramaiah (named as accused number one), his wife B.M. Parvathi (the second accused), and his brother-in-law, Mallikarjunaswamy (the third accused). It also gave a clean chit to the fourth accused, landowner J. Devaraju.
Responding to the charges, MP Kumar Naik said he had not yet seen the Lokayukta report and would take appropriate action once it was available. He stated, "Once the report is available, the future course of action will be taken. During the time of alienation, the de-notification of the land was done. The rule says compensation for land is the land only. The rule won’t stipulate otherwise. When the application is filed for alienation, it is our duty to carry it out in 90 days’ time."
Naik also defended his actions, stating, “The land was de-notified before it came under government acquisition. We carried out the acquisition only after thorough verification.”
The ongoing controversy continues to stir political debate in Karnataka, with the BJP demanding accountability and further investigations, while the Congress defends its position on the issue.