Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah refuses comment on demand for his resignation, BJP stages protest

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday morning refused to comment on the ongoing protests of the BJP-JDS leaders on Thursday within the Vidhana Soudha premises, demanding his resignation and a CBI inquiry into the MUDA scam.
The Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly, R Ashoka, demanded the resignation of the Karnataka Chief Minister, and said that the high court itself has called it a scandal instead of any political party.
"The High Court has already said it is a scandal, not BJP or anyone else is saying, it is the court. That is why we are demanding the resignation of the CM," he said.
He further said that a CBI inquiry is necessary as the government would be appointing the police officer who would be investigating the matter, calling into question the impartiality of the investigation.
"The government is appointing the police officer, so how can an inquiry be independent? The Lokayukta is independent, but the officer will not be independent," he said.
Another BJP leader, Y A Narayanaswamy, said that the CM has no moral right to continue on his seat.
"There is no question denying for inquiry, the inquiry has to be conducted. When the CM himself is facing an inquiry, he should not have moral right to continue his seat. That's why we have demanded for the past two days that he should resign and face the inquiry. But the CM is telling very bluntly that he will not resign. This is unbecoming of CM Siddaramaiah, so we are demanding here that he resigns and make way for others in the state," the BJP leader added.
Calling the MUDA scam the biggest scam in Karnataka's history, BJP leader Arvind Bellad said, "This is the biggest scam the Karnataka has seen. Siddaramaiah has been implicated in that. The High court has upheld the decision of the governor. Any man with some kind of dignity would have resigned by now. But Siddaramaiah is acting as if nothing has happened and he wants to continue in the chair. It is not right, so we are doing a dharna in front of Gandhi statue."
He further reiterated the demand for a CBI inquiry, saying that an investigation under the Congress government would not be fair.
"The CBI inquiry should be done, because any inquiry under the Congress government would not be a fair trial so an independent agency like CBI should do the trial where there would not be any influence of the congress government. The CM is so thick skinned, he is refusing to resign in spite of such a big scam," he added.
On Wednesday, after the Special Court for elected representatives ordered an investigation by the Mysuru Lokayukta into the alleged MUDA scam the CM said he would fight the charge legally.
"I am ready to face the investigation and continue the legal fight. As I said yesterday, I repeat today: there is no question of fearing an investigation; I am determined to face everything. After discussing with legal experts, I will decide the next course of action," Siddaramiah had posted on X.