Give up land like Kharge family, Bhandary tells BJP, RSS

NT Correspondent Bengaluru: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president Manjunath Bhandary on Monday called upon BJP and RSS members to return land that was allotted to them, which he alleged was either acquired at throw-away prices or misused. Bhandary argued that since Rahul, the son of All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge, had withdrawn his request for a plot of land, which was being disputed by the BJP, critics should do the same Rahul had withdrawn the request for a Civic Amenities (CA) site in the Hitech Defence Aerospace Park in Bengaluru back in March, reportedly for a skill development centre under the Siddhartha Vihar Trust. Bhandary said that although there was nothing wrong in the site allotment, he had given up claim on it, so as to avoid “misuse” of the issue by BJP.

The Congressman trained his guns on Leader of the Opposition in the Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy over alleged misuse of government-allotted land. The plot in question, another CA site, in Hosakote in Bengaluru Rural district and was acquired by the BJP MLC for the construction of a school but allegedly used to build a restaurant that primarily served biryani. Moreover, Congress claims that Narayanaswamy misused his position as Chairman of the KHB between November 28, 2002 and May 5, 2004 to acquire the land.

“Now, will Narayanaswamy return the land, which was meant for the construction of an educational institution, and take a principled stand like Rahul Kharge?” Bhandary asked. The KPCC working president also alleged that 116 acres of land was acquired for Chanakya University in Devanahalli under BJP rule at a cost of Rs 50 crore when it should have fetched Rs 137 crore. He also demanded that RSS return the land acquired for the NGO Rashtrotthana Parishat.