I had told CM two-and-a-half months ago to return sites: Prathap Simha

Mysuru: Asserting that he had told Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to return the 14 sites that were illegally  allotted to his wife by MUDA as per 50:50 ratio basis, former MP Prathap Simha said that had the CM heeded his advice then, he would not have been in a situation that he is in now.

Speaking to presspersons here this morning, Simha, commenting on the CM’s wife B.M. Parvathi’s decision to return the MUDA sites, said that he had also clearly told the CM then that the 14 sites should not gobble up his decades-long political journey.

Reiterating that Siddaramaiah would not have had to face prosecution now had he returned the sites months ago, Simha said that his position would not have been shaky as it seems now.

“The hypocrites surrounding  Siddaramaiah are solely responsible for the plight that the CM is facing now. Now the CM’s wife’s decision to return the sites does not mean that is the end of the investigation and the case. The CM lost all the respect that I had for him when he asked MUDA to pay Rs. 64 crore in return for the MUDA sites. Now the investigation should go on, irrespective of whether the sites are returned or not,” he said.

Continuing Simha said, “I had got the documents in the name of the CM’s wife pertaining to the sites during the Assembly polls itself. But I remained silent then as it would mean a personal attack. Politicians must be careful as any interference or influence by their family members would land them in trouble one day. Everyone should remember that several CMs had to go to jail because of the greed of their family members.”

Maintaining that B.M. Parvathi’s emotional card does not work now, the former MP wanted to know why the CM waged a legal battle in the High Court if at all he wanted to return the sites.

 Lokayukta ADGP-HDK spat

Referring to the verbal duel between Lokayukta ADGP M. Chandrashekar and Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy (HDK), Simha opined that officials were more corrupt than politicians. Noting that HDK may have documents in support of his claims, he said that the IPS Officer would have filed a defamation case against HDK, had he been so honest.

Wanting the Government to suspend the IPS Officer for his audacity and arrogance, he said that Chandrashekar should first leave the State and go back to his cadre State of Himachal Pradesh.

Asking the IPS Officer to mind his language, he warned that Kannadigas would not take his utterances against Kumaraswamy lightly. He also wanted to know whether the CM or the Deputy CM would have been silent had the IPS Officer compared them to pigs, just as Chandrashekar indirectly referred to Kumaraswamy as a pig in a letter he had purportedly written to his sub-ordinates after his duel with the Union Minister.