Mr Gehlot’s move has opened the door to probe agencies to investigate the allegations against Siddaramaiah linked to land allotment in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
Following the announcement, the BJP has been demanding Siddaramaiah, who belongs to the Congress, to resign. This is the first major challenge to the 15-month-old Congress government in Karnataka.
Siddaramaiah has indicated he will give a huge fight. “Tell me why I should resign? According to me the Governor has to resign, because he acted like a puppet in the hands of the government of India… Tell me, what is the offence that I have committed?” Siddaramaiah told reporters.
In the case now known as “MUDA scam”, compensatory sites were allegedly allotted to Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value compared to the location of her land which had been “acquired” by MUDA.
The Opposition BJP in Karnataka has alleged the “MUDA scam” is in the magnitude of Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore. State BJP chief BY Vijayendra said Siddaramaiah should resign to ensure a transparent and unbiased investigation.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar also called the Governor’s move “unconstitutional” and “undemocratic”, and claimed the entire Congress party and the state government stand with Siddaramaiah. “The [Opposition] INDIA bloc has expressed its solidarity with the Chief Minister. These are false allegations and we will fight it legally and politically,” Mr Shivakumar said.
Siddaramaiah, too, said the decision by the Governor who is “functioning like a puppet in the hands of the central government” was expected. The Chief Minister said they will question the Governor’s move in court and will fight it legally.
In Bengaluru, a massive protest was organised by Congress workers and members of the Karnataka Pradesh Kurubara Sangha, demanding removal of the Governor. Raising slogans against Mr Gehlot, they burnt his effigies and carried placards saying, “Remove Governor, Save State”.
The Governor had said his order was necessary to conduct a neutral, objective, and non-partisan investigation, adding he is prima facie “satisfied” that the allegations and the supporting material disclose offences have been committed.
Mr Gehlot also termed as “irrational” the decision taken by the Council of Ministers advising him to withdraw his show cause notice to the Chief Minister and to reject the application seeking prosecution sanction.

Media platform X said on Saturday it would close its operations in Brazil “effective immediately” due to what it called “censorship orders” from Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes.

The decision to close the 𝕏 office in Brazil was difficult, but, if we had agreed to @alexandre‘s (illegal) secret censorship and private information handover demands, there was no way we could explain our actions without being ashamed.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2024

X claims Alexandre Moraes secretly threatened one of its legal representatives in the South American country with arrest if it did not comply with legal orders to take down some content from its platform. Brazil’s Supreme Court, where Alexandre Moraes has a seat, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The X service remains available to the people of Brazil, billionaire Elon Musk’s platform said on Saturday.

Earlier this year, Alexandre Moraes ordered X to block certain accounts, as he investigates so-called “digital militias” that have been accused of spreading fake news and hate messages during the government of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Alexandre Moraes opened an inquiry earlier this year into the billionaire after Musk said he would reactivate accounts on X that the judge had ordered blocked. Musk has called the Alexandre Moraes’ decisions regarding X “unconstitutional.”

After Musk’s challenges, X representatives reversed course and told Brazil’s Supreme Court that the social media giant would comply with the legal rulings.

Lawyers representing X in Brazil in April told the Supreme Court that “operational faults” have allowed users who were ordered blocked to stay active on the social media platform, after Alexandre Moraes had asked X to explain why it allegedly had not fully complied with his decisions.

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

The-Dream was accused of rape and sexual battery in June by a former protégé, Chanaaz Mangroe. 

​The-Dream was accused of rape and sexual battery in June by a former protégé, Chanaaz Mangroe.