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After CM Siddaramaiah, Kharge family-linked trust seeks to surrender controversial land

KIADB had allotted five acres to the Siddhartha Vihar Trust for setting up a research and development training centre at the Hi-Tech Defence Aerospace Park near Bengaluru in early 2024.

Mahesh M Goudar

Published Oct 13, 2024 | 5:35 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 13, 2024 | 5:35 PM

Corruption and conspiracy allegations against Kharge family trust

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and his son and minister Priyank Kharge

In a significant development, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s family run Siddhartha Vihar Trust wrote a letter to the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) on voluntarily surrendering the land allotted for the trust at the Hi-Tech Defence Aerospace Park near Bengaluru.

Two weeks ago, the Chief Minister’s wife BM Parvathi returned 14 sites to Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), which were at the centre of controversy, in the alleged land allotment scam.

In a similar fashion, Kharge’s family appeared to have followed the footsteps of the Siddaramaiah’s family, with volunteering to return five acres of CA sites allotted by the KIADB earlier this year.

Siddhartha Vihar Trust Chairman Rahul Kharge, who is son of Mallikarjun Kharge, has written a letter to the KIADB’s chairman, seeking cancellation/surrender of the allotment of civic amenity site under Clause 8 of the allotment letter on 30 September, 2024.

KIADB had allotted five acres to the Siddhartha Vihar Trust for setting up a research and development training centre at the Hi-Tech Defence Aerospace Park near Bengaluru in early 2024. The land was allotted by the committee headed, Minister for Commerce, Industries and Infrastructure MB Patil.

Social activist Dinesh Kalalli and Opposition party leaders have accused the Congress government of not following norms in allotting the said lands. Following the complaint, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot had sought a report from the state government over this five-acre land allotment.

Also Read: What is the land controversy surrounding Kharge family

Siddhartha Vihar Trust volunteers to return controversial CA site to KIADB

Following the objections over the five acres allotment to Siddhartha Vihar trust at Hi-tech aerospace park near Bengaluru, the trust’s member Rahul Kharge has written letter to the KIADB on volunteering/surrender the allotted site.

Kharge wrote a letter to the chairman of the KIADB on 30 September, 2024, expressing their willingness to return the allotted five acres of land back to the board.

The Siddhartha Vihar Trust has formally withdrawn its proposal dated 12 February, 2024, requesting a civic amenity site within the KIADB Bangalore zone for a “Multi-Skill Development Centre, Training Institutes, and a Research Centre,” Rahul Kharge highlighted that they have received only allotment letter and the lease deed is yet to be executed.

In its letter, trust’s chairman Kharge noted: “It had neither requested nor received financial subsidies or reduced allotment rates for the proposed centres. The requested CA site was more expensive than an industrial plot in the KIADB area, and it pointed out that no concessions are available for civic amenity sites, even for trusts run by the SC/ST community.”

“The land was allotted on a lease-cum-sale basis for 10 years, with the possibility of cancellation if conditions were not met within three years; only an allotment letter has been issued to date.”

“The trust request was solely for educational purposes, ensuring that no entrepreneurs seeking industrial plots would be disadvantaged,” added Kharge. The trust remained fully eligible for the civic amenity site as outlined in its application,” added Kharge.

Additionally, the Trust expressed a desire to avoid baseless and politically motivated controversies (surrounding the said land allotment) that could distract from its mission of empowering the disempowered through education and social service.

Also Read: Karnataka government withdraws cases against Hubballi riots accused

Kharge defends brother and takes dig at the BJP

In a sharp rebuttal to the BJP’s politically motivated attacks, Minister for IT and BT Priyank Kharge defended his brother and trust chairman Rahul Kharge, while taking a dig at the opposition party’s questionable appointments.

Priyank pointed out that despite Rahul’s extensive qualifications and achievements—including his work at Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on cutting-edge intrusion detection systems, top UPSC ranks, and contributions to national security—he has been unfairly targeted.

Taking dig at the BJP, Priyank Kharge said: “It is most unfortunate that despite the Chairman being fully qualified for the site, BJP chose to pick on him for their petty politics.”

“He developed a kernel-level intrusion detection system and the first high-speed kernel-level packet capture system. He also discovered multiple techniques for evading intrusion detection systems (IDS).”

“Additionally, he created an algorithm to detect zero-day attacks by recognizing virus and worm patterns in scan packets and developed a comprehensive scan detection system,” Kharge highlighting his brother’s achievement also added that he had cleared 2004 and 2000 UPSC Civil Service Examinations.

“In BJP, someone who can’t hold a bat can be made chairman of ICC or BCCI, but a man conferred with the prestigious Agni Award for excellence in self-reliance can’t be allowed to build a skill development center for the youth,” charged Kharge.

Also Read: Gali Janardhana Reddy to enter Ballari after 14 years

MP Lahar Singh Siroya took to ‘x’ and said,”I feel vindicated. The Kharge family has returned the 5-acre KIADB land illegally allotted to them. When I had raised this issue I was threatened and abused by Kharge Jr. and his cronies…”

(Edited by Ananya Rao)

 

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