Attending Lokayukta a ‘drama’ by Siddaramaiah to escape CBI probe: Pralhad Joshi

New Delhi: Union Minister for Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Pralhad Joshi alleged on Tuesday that attending the investigation in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) case by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is mere ‘drama’.

He said that attending the Lokayukta investigation by Siddaramaiah will help him to escape the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation in the future.

“I am not talking about the Lokayukta Justice or the Upa Lokayukta Justice. But officers who are stooges of Siddaramaiah have been deputed to Mysuru Lokayukta office,” he claimed.

He said that the Special Investigation Teams (SIT) have been turned into the “Save Siddaramaiah” movement while ministers have now become the investigation team.

“The SIT probing the Valmiki Tribal Welfare scam did not even mention the name of former minister B. Nagendra in the case who was later arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED),” he said.

On Tuesday, Siddaramaiah confirmed that he would attend the investigation on November 6 (Wednesday) in the Mysuru Lokayukta office. Meanwhile, the High Court, taking up the petition seeking the CBI probe into the MUDA case had adjourned the matter to Nov 26.

Pralhad Joshi further hit back at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s recent claims regarding grant allocations by the Centre, dubbed his repeated statements as cliches.

Earlier, Siddaramaiah questioned whether Joshi would leave politics if he proved that the Central government had not provided adequate grants to Karnataka.

Joshi, responded by dismissing the Siddaramaiah statement, likening it to his typical "guarantee rhetoric."

He said that if Siddaramaiah is serious about transparency, he should step down as Chief Minister and support a proper investigation.