Files complaint with Election Commission; I will reply to EC, says Chief Minister

New Delhi: Amidst the ongoing row over allegations of irregularities in site allotment by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) surfacing, embarrassing the Government and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, a complaint has been filed against Siddaramaiah, accusing him of submitting a false affidavit during the 2013 Assembly elections.

The complaint, filed with the Chief Electoral Officer, by T.J. Abraham, an activist and President of the Karnataka Anti-Graft and Environmental Forum, alleges that Siddaramaiah failed to disclose his wife B.M. Parvathi’s ownership of 3 acres and 16 guntas of agricultural land in Kesare village.

Reacting to the complaint, CM Siddaramaiah told reporters in Mysuru this morning, “Let the Election Commission send me a notice on Abraham’s complaint and I will file a suitable report.”

According to Abraham’s complaint, Siddaramaiah, who was then an MLA from the Varuna Assembly Constituency in Mysuru district, did not include the details of his wife’s property in the affidavit. He said that Siddaramaiah intentionally left the section of the affidavit where the agricultural lands owned by his spouse were to be declared blank.

The land was originally sold by Devaraju and family on Aug. 25, 2004, to Siddaramaiah’s brother-in-law B.M. Mallikarjuna Swamy while Siddaramaiah was the Deputy Chief Minister. The land was converted for residential purposes on July 15, 2005.

Abraham further alleged that Siddaramaiah had mentioned the land owned by his wife in the annual returns statement filed in March 2013. “The non-inclusion of the details of his wife’s properties in his affidavit in 2013, is prima facie with his absolute knowledge and clearly with some ulterior motives on the part of Siddaramaiah,” Abraham mentioned in the complaint.

The complaint calls for legal action against Siddaramaiah under Section 125A and Section 8 of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1950. It also cites violations of Sections 227, 229, 231 and 236 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which correspond to the previously used Sections 191, 193 and 199 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), for filing a false affidavit.