Wife's letter admission of guilt, says BJP seeking Siddaramaiah's resignation

New Delhi: The BJP on Monday termed Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi's letter to the MUDA Commissioner as an "admission of guilt" and demanded the Karnataka chief minister's resignation.

Parvathi wrote to the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Commissioner expressing her willingness to return the 14 sites in the Mysuru upmarket following allegations of illegalities in their allotment.

"This letter is an admission of guilt. Instead of sending his (Siddaramaiah) resignation letter, a redemption letter is being written," BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said.

The letter came against the backdrop of Karnataka Lokayukta police registering a case against Siddaramaiah on the directions of a special court in connection with the matter.

Also, the Enforcement Directorate on Monday booked the CM, Parvathi and some others in a money laundering case linked to the land allotment case, taking cognisance of the Lokayukta FIR.

The BJP spokesperson alleged that Siddaramaiah's wife had written to the MUDA commissioner expressing her willingness to return the 14 sites she had been allotted "to evade investigation in the case".

"If no wrong was committed, why are you returning (the sites)? That too when the orders of the High Court and special court came, an FIR was registered and ED case also started," Poonawalla asked.

"A letter of guilt has come. Corruption happened ( in MUDA site allocation). Now the letter of redemption won't work. It's time for Siddaramaiah to resign. He doesn't have any moral right to continue as the chief minister," the BJP spokesperson said.

In the letter to the MUDA Commissioner, Siddaramaiah's wife said she was allotted the 14 alternative sites in the third and fourth phase of Vijayanagar in Mysuru against the usage of her three acres and 16 Guntas of land in Kesare village under Kasaba Hobli in Mysuru.

"I am willing to return the 14 sites by way of cancelling the sale deed. I want MUDA to acquire these sites. I request you to take the step in this direction at the earliest," Parvathi said in her letter.

It is alleged that the compensatory sites were given to Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land that was "acquired" by MUDA.

The Lokayukta FIR has been registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 120B (criminal conspiracy), 166 (public servant disobeying law, with intent to cause injury to any person), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 426 (mischief), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 340 (wrongful confinement) and 351 (assault).