Mysuru (Karnataka):

Union Minister and former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday said that the primary objective of the Janata Dal (Secular) and BJP is to oust the current government, not just Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

“Our fight is to remove this government, not just Siddaramaiah. This government is totally against the people of Karnataka. They are looting the state,” Mr Kumaraswamy told news agency ANI.

He was responding to the ongoing controversy involving Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is alleged to be involved in the Valmiki Corporation and Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Prahlad Joshi said that Siddaramaiah has no choice but to resign.

“We will fight tooth and nail. Karnataka CM has to resign; he has no other option,” Mr Joshi told ANI.

Notably, the BJP-JD(S) coalition conducted a week-long protest march, the Mysuru Chalo Padayatra, demanding Siddaramaiah’s resignation over his alleged involvement in the MUDA and Valmiki Corporation scams.

In response, the Congress launched the ‘Jan Andolan Yatra’ earlier this month to counter the BJP’s allegations and the padayatra.

A complaint was filed by social activist Snehamayi Krishna, accusing Siddaramaiah and nine others of forging documents to claim compensation from the Mysuru Urban Development Authority. The complaint alleges that Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathy, his brother-in-law Malikarjuna Swamy Devaraj, and others created fake documents to obtain plots worth crores of rupees.

Earlier, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accused BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) of levelling allegations against him to weaken the government after their “Operation Kamala” failed.

“BJP and JDS parties are making allegations against me to destabilise the government. Since their failure to destabilise the government through Operation Kamala, they are making such accusations,” Siddaramaiah alleged.

The BJP has demanded that the land given to the Karnataka CM’s family be returned, accusing Siddaramaiah of usurping lands that belonged to the Dalit community.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)