Bengaluru:

Union Minister of State for Ministry of Labour and Employment, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Shobha Karandlaje on Saturday accused Karnataka Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh of burning all files related to the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) case to “save” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Addressing media persons at the party office, she said: “CM Siddaramaiah, your Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh went to Mysuru. All files after 1997 were loaded into his car. Where did those files go? To protect you, all files of MUDA were taken away by Minister Suresh and burnt.”

She sought the resignation of CM Siddaramaiah and the arrest of Byrathi Suresh.

She said the investigation was not only about investigating Siddaramaiah’s brother-in-law and land owner and fourth accused J. Devaraju.

The Minister urged the investigating agencies to probe CM Siddaramaiah and his wife Parvathy.

“You (CM Siddaramaiah) take moral responsibility. You are a criminal. After the Governor sanctioned the prosecution under the 17 A and the High Court and the Special Court slammed you and the Lokayukta started a probe, former MUDA Chairman K. Marigowda’s resignation was not enough,” she said.

The Minister hit out at CM Siddaramaiah, saying the ED, probing the case, has stated he has “bent the law to benefit his family. “

“Firstly, the land you have taken itself was illegal. Originally, the land belonged to the person from the Scheduled Caste. The land did not belong to Devaraju, who claimed to be the owner. How did you get the land? How did your brother-in-law get the land?” she asked.

“You (CM Siddaramaiah) were in one or the other Constitutional position when the scam occurred. You got sites allotted in the prime locality and returned them. The returning of sites itself is evidence for the crime,” she slammed.

“I want to ask CM Siddaramaiah why he accepted the resignation of MUDA Chairman K. Marigowda? Gowda was your close associate. Are you planning to blame him for the scam,” she said.

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

Chennai:

Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje on Tuesday filed an affidavit before the Madras High Court, apologising to the people of Tamil Nadu for her remarks made in light of the Rameshwaram Cafe blast in Bengaluru earlier this year.

Post the March 1 low-intensity blast at the popular eatery in Bengaluru, Ms Karandlaje had linked the people of Tamil Nadu with the incident and was booked by the Madurai police over the matter.

She had moved the court seeking to quash the criminal proceedings against her.

In her affidavit filed before the bench of Justice G Jayachandran, Karandlaje said the remarks made about the people of TN was done “without any intention” to hurt their sentiments and feelings.

She said she had already retracted her previous comments and tendered “my profound apologies through social media platforms.” “I state that I have the highest respect and regard to the history, rich culture, tradition, and to the people of Tamil Nadu and I had or have no intention whatsoever to hurt the sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu by any conduct of mine.” 

“Hence, I hereby once again tender my apology to the people of Tamil Nadu for having caused any hurt from my comments. The same may kindly be taken on record in the interest of the justice,” the Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Labour & Employment, said.

The judge adjourned the case to September 5.

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

New Delhi:

The Election Commission on Wednesday directed the Karnataka chief electoral officer to take immediate and appropriate action on the DMK’s complaint about alleged model code violation by Union minister and BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje.

The poll panel also sought a compliance report on the matter within 48 hours.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has sought action against Karandlaje for alleging that a person from Tamil Nadu was responsible for the IED blast at the Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru on March 1.

In its complaint to the Election Commission earlier in the day, the DMK said that the minister’s statement generalised the people of Tamil Nadu as “extremists”.

During a protest in Bengaluru on Tuesday, she had said that “law and order in Karnataka has deteriorated. People who come from Tamil Nadu plant bombs here, people from Delhi chant ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans and people who come from Kerala were involved in acid attacks.” She later apologised for her remarks and said she was retracting her comments.

The Madurai police has booked her for “promoting enmity” between different groups, while her remarks had drawn sharp criticism from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and other DMK leaders.

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