Bengaluru: Defending Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the Arkavathi layout row was a full-time job for some Congress leaders on Saturday.
Party leader and AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G?Parameshwara jumped into the fray and went on the defensive.
Singh came down to City late on Friday evening on an unscheduled visit. He held a meeting with chief minister and KPCC president on Saturday morning at the Kumara Krupa guesthouse. Siddaramaiah is understood to have apprised Singh about the Arkavathi issue. Singh is also learnt to have taken stock of the political situation in the State. However, the Congress dubbed Singh’s visit a private one.
What surprised many in the political circles is the support Siddaramaiah received from Parameshwara on the issue. He had so far not come out in the open defending the chief minister, who had been facing the heat from Opposition parties for reportedly deleting large tracts of lands in favour of land sharks. Many Cabinet ministers too have defended the chief minister.
Though Singh claimed that he was in Bengaluru on a private visit, he made it a point to hold a press meet. He is scheduled to return to Delhi on Sunday morning. The Congress leader accused the State BJP of trying to politicise the issue. He said that there was no ground for Governor Vajubhai Vala to grant sanction for prosecuting the chief minister.
“Neither the chief minister nor the state government has interfered in the process of dropping lands from acquisition. The BDA land acquisition officers (LAOs) have taken decisions on deleting lands as per court orders. The government has not taken any decision,” he stated.
He said that he would give full credit to the chief minister for immediately setting up a commission of inquiry to look into the charges. Any person who has any proof of the government having shown any undue favour to anybody in the issue can go to the commission, he added.
On the BJP planning to seek prosecution permission, the AICC general secretary sought to know whether a criminal complaint had been filed against Siddaramaiah. “Is there a criminal case against the chief minister? How can permission for prosecuting the chief minister be given without a prima facie case?” he asked.
Asked why the government had shied away from submitting all documents to the Kempanna Commission on the issue, Singh said that the government had to provide all documents to the commission. Earlier in the day, Parameshwara said the chief minister had not denotified lands at Arkavathi layout and accused the BJP of making baseless charges.
