New Delhi, Jun 24 (PTI) The BJP on Wednesday alleged that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and his son Priyank Kharge have grabbed land at various locations in Karnataka by misusing their “power and influence”, and asked why Chief Minister DK Shivakumar doesn’t take action against them.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, party spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari alleged that Kharge and his son, a minister in the Karnataka government, are engaged in “land loot” in the Congress-ruled state through their Siddhartha Vihara Trust.
“Their modus operandi is inspired by Robert Vadra and Rahul Gandhi family,” he charged.
Hitting back, Priyank Kharge said the BJP is trying hard “to please the RSS”.
“People are asking for the accounts of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, but the BJP is working overtime to demand the accountability of Lord Buddha in Kalaburagi,” the Karnataka home minister charged in a post on X.
“You had five BJP chief ministers in Karnataka. Why did none of them act? Modi Sarkar has been in power for 12 years. If there was wrongdoing, why am I still roaming free and not in jail?” Priyank asked the BJP.
“My papers are publicly available and ready to discuss it on any platform,” he said, asking Bhandari, “Now tell us, when will your political masters in the RSS show theirs?” The BJP’s attack on Kharge and his son comes a day after the Congress questioned why central probe agencies are not investigating those behind the alleged “land scam” in Madhya Pradesh and cited media reports which claimed the involvement of family members of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.
The BJP had dismissed the allegations against Yadav as “baseless”.
Bhandari on Wednesday alleged that the Congress government gave 5-acre land, worth Rs 100 crore, to Siddhartha Vihara Trust in Bengaluru for research and development in the aerospace and defence sector even though the Trust had no prior experience in such work.
The Congress government in Karnataka gave 19 acres of land to the Siddhartha Vihara Trust in Gulbarga district in 2016 for a 30-year period, which was later converted into a permanent lease to make a “permanent property” of Kharge’s family, the BJP spokesperson claimed, alleging “corruption and impropriety” on the part of the Congress president and his son.
“Mallikarjun Kharge and his son Priyank Kharge, who is a minister in the Karnataka government, have usurped various lands using their power and influence in the state, and tried to commit land loot in various places,” Bhandari said.
“This is a violation of the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita. It’s a cognisable offence under the law,” the BJP spokesperson charged, asking why the Karnataka chief minister doesn’t take action against Kharge and his son in the matter.
Bhandari said that a CAG report in 2018 flagged the issue, noting that transfer of the land benefited the Siddhartha Vihara Trust, not the government, but no action was taken.
The BJP spokesperson also alleged that the Siddharth Vihara Trust, in which Kharge, his wife and son are members, grabbed 7.18 acres of land in Gulbarga city by creating a fictitious seller, Kasturi Bai, “Nobody knows who Kasturi Bai is,” he said.
Bhandari alleged that the Congress government in Karnataka also gave 8,125 sq mts of land to Kharge in 2010 when Siddaramaiah was the chief minister.
“Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) was pressured to give this land to Kharge. As the BDA didn’t agree, he was transferred and the land was eventually given to him,” the BJP spokesperson said.
Bhandari said that the matter is already pending with an MP-MLA court in Karnataka.
“We are presenting hard evidence. If Mallikarjun Kharge does not clarify, it will be considered an admission of guilt,” the BJP spokesperson added.
Referring to the reports alleging that Yadav’s family had bought acres of land in Ujjain in zones benefiting from infrastructure projects, Congress general secretary, Organisation, K C Venugopal had said on Tuesday that people are now aware of the truth behind “Na khaoonga, na khaane doonga” and said this “farce” must end now.
Terming the land scam allegations against Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav as “baseless”, state BJP president Hemant Khandelwal on Tuesday said that whenever the state has had a chief minister from the backward classes, the Congress has attempted to weaken him. PTI PK RT
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