Siddaramaiah will resign as CM, claims Vijayendra

State BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra speaking to reporters in Mysuru on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: M.A. Sriram

State BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra claimed that he had information about Chief Minister Siddaramaiah resigning from his post after Dasara.

Mr. Vijayendra, who was in Mysuru on Sunday in connection with the party’s membership drive, told reporters that the countdown for Mr. Siddaramaiah to quit as Chief Minister had begun soon after the BJP’s padayatra to Mysuru to highlight the corruption by the Congress government in the State with Mr. Siddaramaiah himself facing charges of irregularities in the allotment of sites by Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

He said his prediction on Mr. Siddaramaiah’s resignation was not merely a politically-motivated statement. “He can resign any moment. Such a situation has arisen. The Congress High Command is also discussing the matter,” he said while adding that Mr. Siddaramaiah too was aware that the Congress High Command has seized of the matter.

To a question from reporters, Mr. Vijayendra said it was not just Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who was eyeing the Chief Minister’s chair, but about seven to eight other aspirants in the party were also waiting to occupy the coveted post.

He said the MUDA ‘scam’ was not merely about the 14 sites allotted to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife. “Thousands of crores of rupees have been looted. We will expose it in the coming days,” he said.

When the BJP sought a discussion on the MUDA ‘scam’ in the Legislature, the ruling party refused to allow a debate on the matter, claiming no such scam had taken place. Yet, the government appointed the one-man commission of inquiry to probe the alleged irregularities in the MUDA, he said.

Later, Mr. Siddaramaiah realised that the MUDA scam posed a threat to his continuation as the Chief Minister and hence he decided to have the sites surrendered.

To another question, the BJP leader said he had no objection to Mr. Siddaramaiah returning as Chief Minister if the inquiries prove his innocence, but he should resign from his post given the charges and allow a transparent investigation to be conducted against him.

Mr. Vijayendra sought to remind Mr. Siddaramaiah of his reported statement when BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa was facing charges as the Chief Minister of the State. Then as a Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Siddaramaiah had asked Mr. Yediyurappa to resign and facilitate an investigation against the charges, the BJP leader said accusing Mr. Siddaramaiah of hypocrisy.

To a question on the candidate to be fielded by the BJP-JD(S) alliance for the by-elections to Channapatna assembly constituency, Mr. Vijayendra said he was not aware of any discussions in the regard, but added that BJP leader Radhamohan Das had met Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy in Delhi and the two may have discussed the issue.

He said he will find out from the party leaders about the choice of candidate by the alliance partners for the by-elections.