SIDDA IN A LAND TUSSLE

It's open season for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Karnataka, with Opposition parties BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) pushing for his ouster over an alleged 'land scam.

- Ajay Sukumaran

Meanwhile, a combative Congress has closed ranks in a bid to deflect what is the ruling party's first serious difficulty since it came to power in May 2023.

Both sides ran campaigns in early August that saw bitter rivalries spill out in the open. But what shook Siddaramaiah was the August 16 decision by Karnataka governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot giving sanction to petitions to investigate and initiate prosecution proceedings against the CM on allegations of irregularities in the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

Siddaramaiah moved the Karnataka High Court on August 19 with a plea to declare the governor's order 'illegal and ab initio void.

The CM's petition, which the court will take up on August 29, contends that the sanction order was issued disregarding the advice given by the council of ministers on the matter.

It also added that the standard procedures for sanction, under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, had been overlooked.