HDK Releases Documents on Yeddy’s Land Scam Amounting to Rs 6,000 cr

From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Nov 17: Turning the heat on Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa over his alleged land scams in favour of his children and other family members as well as ruling BJP leaders during the last 30 months, former chief minister and state JD(S) president H D Kumaraswamy has released documents which suggest the total amount involved to be around Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 crore.

The JD(S) leader, who became Chief Minister under the coalition regime with BJP in 2006 when Yeddyurappa served as the Deputy Chief Minister cum Finance Minister, released copies of a set of official documents pertaining to various land denotifications and questionable allotments of sites and demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister over the murky scandals.

Kumaraswamy declared that his party would raise the issue in the Lok Sabha and press for Yeddyurappa’s resignation besides a CBI probe into the sordid deeds. ''The Chief Minister, who assumed office by swearing in the name of farmers, has looted valuable lands and favoured his sons, daughter and son-in-law as also other family members. He has no moral right to continue in office,” he said ridiculing BJP’s campaign at the national level against the UPA regime.

Yeddy should resign; BJP cannot talk on corruption

''What yardstick the BJP leaders have followed to allow Yeddyurappa to continue in office?,” he asked and said the saffron leaders have no right to talk about the ousted Union Communication Minister K Raja of the DMK on the alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum.

The party would stage a dharna if an opportunity was denied to raise the issue in the Lok Sabha, he said. ''We will raise the issue of allotment of housing sites and denofication of lands in the parliament and enlighten parliament and the country on the unprecedented corruption under the BJP government in the State during the last 30 months,” he said.

Kumaraswamy said the JD(S) party would also approach Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde on illegal denotification of lands and launch a campaign to inform the public misdeeds committed by the BJP regime.

Defending allotment of land to a firm, in which his two sons are partners, Yeddyurappa had denied committing acts of ''nepotism or favouritism” and ruled out stepping down. He has also asserted that the charges against him could not be compared with the ousted Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, who had to resign over the Adarsh housing society scam.

Citing the example of Congress's Ashok Chavan and DMK's A Raja, the JD(S) leader said Yeddyurappa must step down as he was deeply involved in the land scams.

Kumaraswamy claimed that his party had enough evidence on Yeddyurappa's involvement in the scam. The JD(S) leader alleged that 2.5 acres of denotified land were given to Yeddyurappa's sons.

Commenting on the seriousness of the land scams in the Karnataka under the Yeddyurappa regime, Kumaraswamy said the Chief Minister had ''brazenly indulged in nepotism and violation of the Supreme Court's orders to denotify land belonging to a Dubai-based businessman” besides allotting prime industrial plot to a private company promoted by his sons within a fortnight of its being set up.

Sarees purchased from non-existent Surat firm

Continuing his party’s tirade against the Yeddyurappa regime, Kumaraswamy alleged that there was a huge scandal in the purchase and distribution of sarees to the mothers of the girl beneficiaries under the Bhagyalakshmi schme.

The JD(S) leader alleged that the BJP government has purchased sarees from Rachana Group of Industries, Surat, in Gujarat at higher prices. The price of a saree is Rs. 195. However, there was no such a firm in Surat. The actual price of such a low quality saree is Rs. 115.

''The Chief Minister must provide explanation to the people who placed orders to buy sarees from Surat and what was the actual price,’’ he said.

A meeting chaired Yeddyurappa had taken a decision to distribute sarees to Bhagyalakshmi scheme beneficiaries by violating all financial norms. A sum of Rs. 20 crore had been released for distribution of sarees all over the State. ''Whose father’s money that the Chief Minister is sanctioning for the purchase of sarees,” he asked.

''Let Yeddy’s sons start saree business”

The Chief Minister’s sons, who started a business, should also start a saree business to earn more. ''With the quality of sarees is so poor, the Chief Minister will now think distributing long skirts to women to safeguard their dignity,” he said.

According to Kumaraswamy, the Government has released Rs. 80 to Rs 90 lakh to each deputy commissioners to make arrangements to hold a function to distribute sarees.

A programme to distribute sarees would be held at Ramanagar on November 22 and he would also participate in it. The JD(S) would mobilise 40,000 people from different taluks of the district on that day, Kumaraswamy said.

Lashing out at the Government for its alleged discrimination in the distribution of sarees, the JD (S) leader said instead of distributing sarees to all 40,000 beneficiaries in Tumkur district, only 10,000 beneficiaries had been identified and given sarees.

For the past one year, the government has not even given bonds to newly born babies of BPL families and now the chief minister is flying by helicopters from district to district for distributing the sarees with an eye on influencing the rural voters in the forthcoming taluk and zilla panchayat elections. ''The government has failed to provide permanent shelter to the thousands of people affected by last year’s worst-ever floods in north Karnataka,” he said.