The main opposition party in Karnataka, the BJP has alleged that the Mallikarjun Kharge family-run trust has been illegally allocated a 5-acre plot by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) at the Defence Manufacturing Park.

The BJP is demanding the resignation, of Siddaramaiah, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, and Priyank Kharge, alleging that rules were bent in this allotment. The BJP has also demanded a CBI inquiry into the case.

Responding to BJP claims, Priyank Kharge, Minister of Electronics, IT/BT, Rural Development, and Panchayat Raj, asserted that all allocations were conducted transparently and in accordance with the rules. In a reply to a post by Lahar Singh Siroya on X – a BJP MP who had originally made these allegations – Kharge defended his family, stating, “The site allotted is not designated for industrial or commercial purposes but for educational use. The trust intends to establish a multi-skill development centre at this site. Is that wrong?”

He also clarified, that KIADB had neither given any subsidy to the trust for the civic amenities (CA) site, nor reduced the site’s cost, nor offered any leniency in payment terms.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and MB Patil, Minister of Large and Medium Industries, dismissed the allegations made by BJP leader Lahar Singh, asserting that no rules were violated

The 5-acre plot allocation adds to the list of ‘scandals’ under the Siddaramaiah government which includes the MUDA scam and the Valmiki Development Corporation scam, said Gaurav Bhatia, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia in a press conference held at BJP headquarters.

Chalavadi T Narayanaswamy, a senior BJP leader in the State argued that the land allocation was a breach of trust against Scheduled Caste entrepreneurs. In a letter submitted to Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot, Narayanaswamy wrote, “With utmost pain, I bring to your kind knowledge another case of nepotism of the Karnataka Government,” and demanded that action be taken against Kharges.

The recent ‘scam’ involves the KIADB allocating a 5-acre land parcel, part of the 45.94 acres reserved for a Hitech Defense in Aerospace Park in Bengaluru to Siddhartha Vihar Trust, operated and managed by the Kharge family, with Rahul Kharge brother of Priyank and son of Mallikarjuna Kharge being the chairperson.

The allocation was done under the SC quota, even though the land was meant for CA. The issue was brought under scrutiny when BJP Rajya Sabha MP Lahar Singh Siroya raised questions about the Kharge family’s eligibility to receive a KIADB site.

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