Bengaluru, Oct 14 : Karnataka BJP President and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra on Monday challenged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on whether the AICC President could announce that the former will be the CM for five years.

Speaking at a protest held near the Freedom Park in Bengaluru opposing the withdrawal of the Hubballi riot case, Vijayendra posed the challenge referring to CM Siddaramaiah's earlier comment questioning if he could predict the future.

"Let's see if your party president Mallikarjun Kharge can declare that Siddaramaiah will be the Chief Minister for five years. Kharge is avoiding making such statements and is staying silent on state politics,' he further underlined.

The BJP leader said, 'Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would have to resign from his position. One thing you need to understand, we demanded CM Siddaramaiah to hand over the sites illegally allotted to his family members in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam, but he refused to do so. When he realised the MUDA case was going to trouble him and make him resign, he returned.'

'Now, Mallikarjun Kharge family, when we raised the issue of allotment of prime land near Bengaluru International Airport by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB), they did not agree. Since the competition for the CMs post increased day by day in the Congress party, probably, the CM in waiting, Kharge family had returned the land,' Vijayendra maintained.

In the MUDA scam, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's family looted land meant for the poor. The misuse of funds allocated for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) welfare is being widely discussed, and the government has halted development work. Even Congress leaders like MLA Raju Kage and CM's Economic Advisor Basavaraj Rayareddy have criticised the government for lack of progress, and some have spoken about resigning rather than continuing under this administration, Vijayendra charged.

MLA and economic advisor Rayareddy had stated that due to guarantees the development has stopped. Senior Congress leader R.V. Deshpande has also stated about the halting of development in the state, he claimed.

The Congress government has taken the dangerous step of withdrawing cases against anti-nationals. The Congress party's capability is seen in elections in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir states, where they miserably failed. The Congress prioritises minorities whenever in power while ignoring the majority community. A major public movement and large-scale protests would be organised in the coming days, he warned.

/IANS