Bengaluru: Even as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was issued a show-cause notice by Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot in connection with  the multi-crore MUDA (Mysuru Urban Development Authority) site scam, the Congress High Command has resolved to support Siddaramaiah on the issue.

The backing follows a meeting in the State capital Bengaluru on Sunday between AICC General Secretaries K.C. Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala with CM Siddaramaiah and his Council of Ministers to take stock of the allegations that the CM indulged in corruption to ensure his wife Parvathi acquired sites via MUDA and to thwart political manoeuvring on the issue by the Opposition BJP-JD(S) combine.

Speaking to presspersons after the meeting, Venugopal said that the Congress will not budge despite the ongoing ‘Mysuru Chalo’ padayatra by the combined opposition to press for a CBI investigation into the alleged MUDA site scam and to pressurise CM Siddaramaiah to quit his post.

Pointing out that the law will take its own course, Venugopal asserted the Congress in not scared. “Both the BJP and the JD(S) leaders want to save the political careers of their children and are thus targeting our elected Government. They are trying to permanently tarnish the image of Siddaramaiah, who stands for the poor of Karnataka,”  he maintained.

Praising Siddaramaiah , Venugopal said that none can question his (Siddu) integrity and the people are aware of his ideological commitment over decades of his political career. “The BJP and JD(S) leaders have been rattled by the Karnataka Government’s guarantee schemes and the serious charges against the ‘children of their leaders’ and are thus attacking Siddaramaiah to divert public attention,” he  said adding that the Opposition leaders are aware that the guarantee schemes will harm them politically. He further said that the Opposition leaders have come up with certain allegations against Siddaramaiah and the Congress Government after cases were filed against children of their party leaders.

Terming the Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s issuance of show-cause notice to the CM as politically motivated, Venugopal alleged that the Governor had become a puppet in the hands of the Opposition. “The Congress has decided to fight against the conspiracy of the BJP and JD(S). The Ministers have been told to go their respective districts and Assembly segments to explain the people the guarantee schemes and the achievements of the Siddaramaiah Government. They are also told to sensitise people on the conspiracy hatched by the Opposition to finish off the guarantees by de stabilising the Government,” he said while asking the Governor to withdraw the show-cause notice. He also charged Gehlot of gross misuse of the Constitutional Office  of the Governor.

Pull up socks

Prior to the meeting, Venugopal and Randeep  Singh Surjewala are said to have asked some Ministers in the Siddaramaiah Government to pull up their socks or face the axe in  a couple of months.

Sources said that the Congress High Command was disappointed with some Ministers and has asked them to connect better with the public. This is also a warning for under-performing Ministers, the sources added.