Bengaluru, 24 Sept

BJP workers on Tuesday staged protests in several parts of Karnataka demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, hours after the Karnataka High Court dismissed his petition challenging Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's approval for investigation against him in a site allotment case.

The protests were organised in Siddaramaiah's home district of Mysuru, Hubballi and Belagavi, among other places, party leaders said.

Holding the party's flag, they raised slogans against Siddaramaiah asking him to step down as Chief Minister.

"In the wake of the High Court verdict, we want Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to resign from his post immediately and join the investigation," a BJP functionary said.

"The High Court has validated the action of the governor. The BJP demands that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tender his resignation and make way for a free and independent investigation into the allegations of shameful corruption," senior party leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar said at a press conference.

In the MUDA site allotment case, it has been alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife B M Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by the MUDA.

Chandrasekhar also hit out at the Congress and alleged that the party makes fake promises during elections to come to power with the sole objective of committing corruption.

He also referred to the alleged scam in the allocation of a piece of land to a trust run by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's family.

"There is not one Congress leader in Karnataka today who is not involved in some land scam or the other," the former Union minister alleged. -PTI