Memorial project by govt delayed, family of Karnataka’s first CM Nijalingappa puts his Chitradurga house up for sale

Nijalingappa had nine children, including three sons. Only one of the three sons, Kiran Shankar, is married and has two children: a son and a daughter. Speaking to The Indian Express, Kiran Shankar said Nijalingappa had prepared a will in the name of his son Vinay (Nijalingappa ‘s grandson), who is based in the United States.

However, four years ago, the Karnataka government announced that it would build a memorial in Nijalingappa’s name on the same premises and decided to buy the property from the family.

The state government sanctioned Rs 5 crore to establish the memorial. Of this, Rs 4.18 crore was allocated to purchase the property, while Rs 82 lakh was set aside for developing a museum. The government released Rs 2 crore initially and tasked the deputy commissioner of the district with overseeing the project. However, no progress has been made, leading to Nijalingappa’s descendants seeking alternative plans.

Kiran Shankar, who lives in Bengaluru, said, “We never approached the government to turn it into a memorial. It was the government which approached us. To date, five meetings have been held, but there has been no outcome. The deputy commissioner then, Kavitha S Mannikeri, called us to the office and the sub-registrar was also there. The officer concerned started to type the sale deed and we went for lunch. By the time we finished lunch, we got the message that there was some problem with the will and asked us not to return. They have not got back to us with any proper information.”

The family recently posted sale notices on social media, and Kiran Shankar said three or four people expressed interest in buying the house after that.