BENGALURU: Even as Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal Secular have forged an alliance to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, leaders of both parties continue to be at loggerheads. In the ongoing winter session of the legislature, Chikkanayakanahalli JDS MLA B Suresh Babu alleged that his predecessor JC Madhu Swamy (BJP) rented out the private building belonging to his wife to KPTCL when he was the minister.
Replying to Babu’s charges, Energy Minister KJ George informed the House that 2,835.10 sqft of the building was taken on rent at Rs 13.05 per sqft, which worked out to Rs 37,000 per month, from August 2022. But it is within the PWD prescribed rate of Rs 14.28 per sqft which comes to Rs 40,572, he clarified. Tenders have been floated for the construction of a building for KPTCL at Rs 2.25 crore, he added.
According to sources, the building in question was earlier the office of an iron ore company and Madhu Swamy’s wife bought it.A local politician said that sometime ago, Madhu Swamy had got a sub-registrar’s office, which was functioning out of the property of Babu’s relative on rent, shift to the Mini Vidhana Soudha in Chikkanayakanahalli town. Babu might be avenging that by raking up the KPTCL rental issue, he added.