New Delhi. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sought clarification from Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on the issue of allotment of land in Karnataka to a trust run by his family and asked why Congress leaders love land so much. The party also said that the decision of state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi BM to give up ownership and possession of 14 plots raises many questions in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam.
Former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, while talking to reporters here, said that the heat of the land scam against Siddaramaiah had not yet cooled down when the matter of giving five acres of land in the high-tech defense area of Bengaluru to the Siddharth Vihar Trust came to light. A person has come forward who is said to be related to the Kharge family.
He said, “The case related to Siddaramaiah is with the Lokayukta and is pending in the court. The court will do its work in this matter but Kharge ji is the national president of the Congress Party and he is also the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha. If there are so many suspicious circumstances related to land allotment then they will have to answer for it.” Prasad said that BJP expects Kharge to give these allegations honestly, authentically and in a transparent manner. While giving details of the alleged land scam, the BJP leader also raised the question why Congress leaders are so fond of land deals.
He said, “Have some of its (Congress) leaders become ‘property dealers’? This is a very serious question. And the country wants to know.” He said that as Congress President, Kharge should have set a benchmark. Prasad said that BJP does not formally oppose giving land to any trust but the way Congress leaders are engaged in ‘land grabbing campaign’ in the name of trust is very wrong. The former Union Minister said that this is a serious issue and BJP condemns it.
Responding to a question about Siddaramaiah’s wife’s offer to give up ownership and possession of 14 plots, Prasad said that in this matter the Governor approved an inquiry against the Chief Minister, which was upheld by the court, in the Lokayukta. A FIR was registered and now the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also registered a case.
He said, “After all this, the matter of returning the land raises many questions.” Taking cognizance of the Lokayukta’s FIR, the ED on Monday registered a money laundering case against Siddaramaiah, his wife and some others in connection with the MUDA case. The federal agency has filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against the Chief Minister and others. ECIR is similar to a police FIR. A few hours later, Parvathi wrote a letter to the MUDA Commissioner and offered to return 14 plots of land in Mysuru.