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The Governor of Karnataka, Thawar Chand Gehlot, has sought an explanation from the Congress government concerning a petition submitted by the BJP. The petition demands the resignation of IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge over an alleged ‘illegal’ allocation of a 5-acre plot by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) at the Defence Manufacturing Park to a trust run by the Kharges. The Governor addressed this request in a letter to the Chief Secretary, Shalini Rajneesh.
Priyank Kharge, addressing the media, commented on the difference in the speed at which the Governor responds to complaints. He added, “When the BJP files a complaint, the Governor seeks an explanation from the government with lightning speed. In contrast, on issues involving BJP-JD(S) leaders, the process seems to move at a tortoise’s pace.”
The political drama further escalated on Monday with new documents allegedly revealing another instance of a similar allocation of 19-acre land to the Kharge family by the Siddaramaiah government.
On Monday, a senior BJP leader Lahar Singh Siroya posted on X, disclosing new documents that allege the allocation of a 19-acre parcel of government land to the International Institute of Pali, Sanskrit, and Comparative Philosophy in Gulbarga. This institute is operated by the Siddhartha Vihara Trust, which is managed by the Kharge family.
The documents claim that the Siddaramaiah government allocated 16 acres of land on lease to the International Institute of Pali, Sanskrit and Comparative Philosophy in Gulbarga in March 2014. An additional 3 acres were allocated within the next two years. In March 2017, the entire 19-acre parcel was transferred ‘free’ of cost to the institute run by the Kharge family, according to Siroya.
The Pali Institute is run by the Siddhartha Vihar Trust, which is managed by the Kharge family. This includes Mallikarjun Kharge’s wife, his son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani, and his two sons, Priyank Kharge and Rahul Kharge. Radhakrishna Doddamani, who is also an MP from Gulbarga, serves as the secretary of the Pali Institute.
In his statement, the BJP leader called for an independent investigation into the 19-acre land allocation to the Kharge-run institute, similar to the probe into the 5-acre land allocation.
(With inputs from PTI)
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