Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bengaluru: Siddhartha Vihar Trust, linked to the family of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, was allotted a Civic Amenities (CA) site by the Karnataka Industries Areas Development Board (KIADB) and the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), a BJP leader has alleged.
While the BDA allotted 8,125 square metres of land in April 2010 when B S Yeddyurappa was chief minister, the KIADB’s allotment of five acres took place during the current Congress dispensation in May 2024.
In his complaint to the Lokayukta, BJP leader N R Ramesh suggested that the trust concealed the information about the BDA’s allotment while applying for the CA site in the KIADB. He also noted that the trust misused the powers as the KIADB allotted the large parcel of land within two months of the trust applying.
“One trust cannot be given more than one CA site for the same purpose. Kharge’s family was allotted sites in BTM Layout and Yelahanka for educational purposes,” he alleged in his complaint. “This amounts to land grabbing.”
As per the complaint, the BDA originally allotted 8,125 sqmt in Banashankari 6th Stage, 5th Block, to the trust. Subsequently, Kharge’s family approached the BDA, seeking an alternative site. In May 2014, when the Congress was in power, the BDA allotted an alternative site of 8,002 sqmt in BTM Layout 4th Stage, 2nd Block, on a 30-year-lease for a fee of Rs 1.99 crore.
After the Congress came back to power last year, the trust approached the KIADB for the allotment of a CA site for establishing an R&D centre at Hi-Tech Defence and Aerospace Park in March 2024. “The board issued the allotment letter in May 2024. The five-acre plot was allotted for five years for a lease amount of Rs 14.25 crore. The market value of the land is Rs 110 crore,” Ramesh alleged.
He said ordinary businessmen wait for years to get sites to set up industries but Kharges used the political power to get the site in three months.