Did AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge's family get priority over 72 Dalit entrepreneurs in the seniority list for land allotment?
BJP’s Chalavadi T Narayanaswamy, leader of the opposition in Karnataka Legislative Council, who on August 27 petitioned the Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot to dismiss IT-BT minister Priyank Kharge from the state cabinet, has alleged Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) allotted the land in a haste – within a month to favour the Kharge family.
The Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka is once again facing allegations of corruption and nepotism in the allotment of land. After Siddaramaiah, it is now Rajya Sabha member Mallikarjun Kharge and his son Karnataka IT-BT minister Priyanka Kharge who are under the scanner over the allotment of five acres of land in Bengaluru to a trust run by the Kharge family.
Earlier, BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Lahar Singh Siroya had alleged that Siddhartha Vihar Trust run by the Kharge family has been allotted five acres of the 45.94 acres in the Hi-tech Defence and Aerospace Park by Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) under the Scheduled Caste (SC) quota in March this year.
“When did Kharge family turn into aerospace entrepreneurs to be eligible for KIADB’s civic amenities (CA) site? How did industries minister MB Patil allot this land?," demanded Siroya adding that the Trust comprised Mallikarjun Kharge, his wife Radhabai, his son-in-law Radhakrishna and sons Priyank and Rahul.
Launching a fresh attack on the Congress government, Narayanaswamy said, "The allotment of land was made in haste and by flouting the norms. Some rules were changed to commercial site into civic amenity (CA) site." The process of site allotment takes months. But the KIADB completed the process in one month just ahead of Parliamentary elections," alleged the MLC.
"KIDAB issued notification on February 5, 2024, for 193 CA sites measuring 377.69 acres across 12 districts. The applications were made available online from February 8 and the last date was February 23. The Single Window agency scrutinised the applications on March 4, and the next day, all allotments were made. The process was done in haste and only 283 applications were received due to the short time. Kharge family was given preference even as some entrepreneurs have been waiting for the land since 2022 after paying the initial deposit (10 per cent of land cost). The Kharges got five acres while a majority of Dalit entrepreneurs who were lucky to get the allotment this time were given five guntas to a quarter acre. The social welfare department had also sought land to set up SC, ST, and OBC hostels and training centres, but the application was also not honoured. It is clear that Priyank Kharge has used his privilege to get the allotment," said Narayanaswamy, a prominent Dalit leader accused the minister of criminal breach of trust.
Elaborating on the case, the MLC said the CA site is meant for setting up R & D centre, innovation centre, technical institutes, skill development centres, govt PSU, educational institutes, hospital, air cargo, housing for employees among others, but was given away for commercial purposes like hotels, private apartments at CA site rates.
"An acre of commercial sire costs Rs 12 crore to Rs 15 crore. But they were given away at Rs 2.5 crore per acre causing a huge loss to the state’s exchequer," lamented Narayanaswamy.
Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy alleging nepotism said, "The Siddhartha Vihara Trust was supposedly established to build a Buddha Vihara, a religious institution. However, it is now being used to run businesses and set up factories," Kumaraswamy alleged.
The Siddartha Vihara Trust, established in 1994 is a public trust founded by Mallikarjun Kharge to carry forward the philosophy of Siddartha and is registered under the Indian Trust Act. The Trust built the ‘Buddha Vihara’ – a Buddhist temple and spiritual centre at Kalaburagi on the 70-acre campus adjoining the Gulbarga university in 2009.
Priyank Kharge slammed the BJP saying the site allotted was not an industrial plot meant for industrial or commercial purposes, but educational purposes. "The Trust intends to set up a multi-skill development centre and the trustees have a background of establishing quality education institutions. KIADB has not given any price concessions to the Trust and there is no price subsidy on civic amenities site allotted to SC/ST organisations. Even after following due process, you single us out with malafide intention of maligning us," said Kharge who demanded to know how the previous BJP government had managed to give away government land to RSS-backed Rashtrotthana and Chanakya University.
