BJP seeks CBI probe into land allotment to Kharge family trust

BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said: “Mallikarjun Kharge must resign as he is the (Congress) chief and also because his family is facing allegations of a scam. His son Priyank Kharge has no moral right to stay a minister… Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah should also resign as there have been three scams under his watch… As police under the Karnataka government can’t be impartial, there needs to be an impartial probe by the CBI.”

In Karnataka, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, approached Governor Thawarchand Gehlot with a letter seeking his intervention in the matter. Narayanaswamy, in his August 27 letter also called for the removal of Priyank from the Karnataka Cabinet. “With utmost pain, I bring to your kind knowledge another case of nepotism of the state government. Siddhartha Vihara Trust is being reportedly allotted five acres of land under the SC quota by Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) in the Hi-tech Defence Aerospace Park near Bengaluru out of the 45.94 acres of land meant for civic amenities in March 2024,” read the letter to the Governor.

“Interestingly, the trustees of Siddhartha Vihar Trust include AICC president Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, spouse Smt Radhabai, Minister, Karnataka, Shri Priyank Kharge, Hon’ble MP LS, son-in-law of Kharges, Shri Radhakrishna Doddamani, and younger son Shri Rahul Kharge,” it added.

The BJP MLC, a SC leader, has called the grant of land to the trust a breach of the trust of SC entrepreneurs for whom the land is meant to be allotted. “The question is how did the Kharges become aerospace entrepreneurs? How did the department give a nod for this allotment? Was the minister compelled to allot the land by the Hon’ble CM,” asked Narayanaswamy, urging the Governor to take cognisance of the seriousness of the matter.

Dismissing the BJP’s allegations, Siddaramaiah said the land allotment has been made as per law. “It has been done in accordance with law. Their trust is eligible to purchase the land, so we have done it,” he said. “A trust is a NGO and the land has been granted for educational needs,” deputy CM Shivakumar, said, defending the allotment.

State Industries Minister M B Patil said that Siddhartha Vihara Education Trust, led by Kharge’s son Rahul, “was allotted a CA plot at Aerospace Park at a prescribed price, in accordance with KIADB norms”. “No rules were violated in the process of allocation. Rahul Kharge is an IIT graduate who wanted to establish a research and development (R&D) centre on the allotted land…,” Patil said.

The Congress leaders have questioned a similar land allotment to an RSS-linked trust during the BJP government tenure, which was temporarily halted by the Congress regime. “The previous BJP government gave 116-acre KIADB land to Chanakya varsity at a significant concession. The real value of that land was Rs 187 crore, causing a loss of Rs 137 crore to the exchequer. Moreover, this amount has not yet been remitted to KIADB,” the Industries Minister said.