BENGALURU: Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy alleged that the Congress acquired sites illegally at 31 locations across the state to set up party offices. He demanded that the government return the sites to departments from where they were obtained, and threatened to go to court and stage protests.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Narayanaswamy said the government has no authority to obtain sites at taluks, districts and panchayats. The government has committed a violation and officials themselves have said these allotments were illegal. “Despite this, the cabinet has given approval for the sites,’’ he said. He pointed out that the Congress government should have provided houses to the poor and land to the landless. “Instead, they are indulging in land grabbing,’’ he said.
According to Narayanaswamy, the Congress grabbed five sites from the revenue department and 26 from municipalities as well as local bodies.
He said the Congress had attempted to obtain a site on lease in Mudhol for constructing a party office, but the department rejected it. In Chikkaballapur, the party obtained a civic amenity site.
“The 3,404 sqmt site worth Rs 4.08 crore was taken by them for Rs 2.04 crore, which is half the value,” he said and alleged that similar sites were taken in Tumakuru, Ramanagara, Chamarajanagar, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts and undervalued sites in Gauribidanuru, Manvi Basavakalyan, Channarayapatna and Shahpur.
In Hubballi-Dharwad, no price was fixed for the site. “Officials had reportedly stated that civic amenity sites cannot be allotted to the Congress Bhavan Trust. However, the matter was placed before the Cabinet and got approval,” he alleged. “The government has done this based on the report given by Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh,” he said and demanded the law department to examine the matter.
Narayanaswamy said BJP built offices in many places by purchasing private land and has not taken government land. “Political parties are allowed to get one government site, but misusing power, the Congress acquired sites across taluk and districts. This is a serious legal lapse,’’ he said.