Siddaramaiah not ready to resign, even if sent to jail: BJP

Bengaluru, Aug 21 : Karnataka BJP on Wednesday slammed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for not resigning over his alleged role in the MUDA land case.

“Even if Siddaramaiah is sent to jail, he is not ready to leave the seat of power. He should resign from his position and face the investigation as he is directly involved in the case. If the investigation proves that he is not guilty, he can become the Chief Minister again. We will have no objection to it,” State BJP SC Morcha President and BJP MLA Cement Manjunath said.

He alleged that Siddaramaiah, who compares himself to Devaraj Urs, is tightly clinging to power.

He said that Congress should stop looting the money of Dalits, adding that they should also stop disrespecting Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, only because he is a Dalit. “Is the Police Department alive or dead in the state,” he said.

He added that those Congress leaders speaking “against” the Governor should be booked under the Tamil Nadu Goondas Act.

He said that when a Dalit woman ascended to the honourable position of President, Congress leaders addressed her in a "derogatory" manner.

Earlier, Karnataka BJP that it would hold a statewide protest for ‘disrespecting’ the Governor after he gave consent to investigate Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the MUDA case.

On August 17 Siddaramaiah ruled out the possibility of his resignation, emphasising that he would fight it out legally, adding that the Congress high command and the entire cabinet were with him.

“There is no question of tendering the resignation. I will fight it out legally in the court of law. It is the decision taken by the Governor. He has no authority, he has no jurisdiction and it is unconstitutional and we will fight it out legally,” the Chief Minister said.

He added that it is a conspiracy against the Congress government.

“The BJP and JD (S) parties along with the central government have joined hands in this. The high command is with me, the entire cabinet is with me. The government is with me. All MLAs are with me,” the Chief Minister said.