MUDA scam: No money exchanged, so how is it a case for ED probe, asks Siddaramaiah

BENGALURU | NEW DELHI: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday hardened his stance on the Muda row as he sought to know how the housing plots allotted to his wife Parvathi in return for her land in Mysuru becomes a case of money laundering for probe by Enforcement Directorate.

The CM saw no scope for ED to investigate the case when the entire transaction did not involve any exchange of money, but only compensatory plots by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (Muda) for taking over 3.16 acres of his wife's plot.

"Plots given in exchange for a piece of land taken over is not money laundering in my opinion," the CM told the media in Bengaluru. He maintained that his wife decided to write to the Muda authorities to cancel the allotment, deeply hurt by the allegations the Opposition parties hurled at the family.


In a related development, Muda authorities cancelled the allotment of plots as requested by Parvathi. "What is my role in this?" he said, adding that there had been no correspondence of letters between him and Muda. "The Opposition parties are experts in lying. They are demanding my resignation when they have no case," Siddaramaiah said, accusing the BJP-JDS of trying to settle political scores with him.

The Congress leadership threw its weight behind the CM and said it was an attempt to destabilise the state government. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said that CM Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government will complete its term of five years.