Karnataka Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah will be prosecuted over the alleged irregularities in site allocations by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA). Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has sanctioned his prosecution after petitions by three activists - Pradeep Kumar, TJ Abraham, and Snehamayi Krishna.

The Congress said Raj Bhavan was being misused as the BJP's tool. The BJP shot back, saying the Governor was well within his constitutional powers to allow legal action to be taken against Siddaramaiah.

The Congress leadership, however, has thrown its weight behind Siddaramaiah, saying the party would fight the issue together. Congress MP KC Venugopal has also asked the party's Karnataka unit to initiate a state-wide protest against the prosecution.

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar called the move a conspiracy against the Chief Minister, while state minister Priyank Kharge said it was orchestrated by the Central government.

Hitting back, Karnataka BJP chief BY Vijayendra said, "By keeping enough records and evidence against the corrupt scandals of the Congress government and against the bias and corruption of the Chief Minister's relatives, Siddaramaiah has demonstrated that there is no one to shake him."

The BJP has claimed that the case was a multi-crore scam running into Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.

The controversy centres on a 3.16-acre parcel of land in Kesaru village owned by Siddaramaiah's wife, Parvathi. This land was acquired by MUDA for development of a layout and Parvathi was allocated 14 premium sites in Vijayanagar in 2022 as compensation under a 50:50 scheme.

However, activists alleged that the plot allotted to Parvathi had a higher property value as compared to the location of her land that was acquired by MUDA. In July, the Congress government constituted a single-member inquiry commission under former High Court Judge Justice P N Desai to probe the case.