Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah finds himself at the center of a political controversy over a 3.16-acre parcel of agricultural land gifted to his wife, B M Parvati Siddaramaiah.
Inconsistencies in his asset affidavits filed over the past three assembly polls have come under scrutiny, with allegations of discrepancies and potential wrongdoing emerging.
The land, situated in Mysore and gifted to Siddaramaiah’s wife in 2010 by her brother, has sparked a political uproar, with the BJP planning protests in Mysore, Siddaramaiah’s home district, on July 12.
The BJP and JD(S) have raised questions about the land’s subsequent transfer to the state under a controversial “50:50” alternate site scheme in 2021, which exchanged the agricultural land for 14 housing plots developed by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
Media reports reveal several inconsistencies in Siddaramaiah’s affidavits.
The 2013 affidavit, filed three years after the land was gifted, does not mention any agricultural land owned by his wife. However, land records from Kesare village show a mutation record dated October 20, 2010, indicating a gift deed for the land.
In the 2018 affidavit, Siddaramaiah acknowledges the gift, listing the land’s value at Rs 25 lakh. By 2023, the affidavit shows the land was exchanged for 37,190.09 square feet of land allotted by MUDA, valued at Rs 8.33 crore.
Despite this exchange, the state’s Record for Rights, Tenancy, and Crops still lists the 3.16 acres in B M Parvati Siddaramaiah’s name for the 2023-24 period. When questioned, CM’s press secretary K V Prabhakar stated, “It has to be examined.”
The inconsistencies have led to a complaint by Bengaluru-based activist T J Abraham with the Chief Electoral Officer, alleging Siddaramaiah filed a false affidavit in 2013.
The Opposition has also seized upon these discrepancies, questioning the CM’s claims of Rs 62 crore compensation for the land when its value was listed as Rs 25 lakh in 2018.
Allegations extend to the manner in which the land was acquired by Siddaramaiah’s brother-in-law in 2004 before being gifted in 2010.
A police complaint by Mysore-based activist S Krishna, now under inquiry by the state urban development department, accuses the CM and others of creating false documents to defraud MUDA.
The complaint alleges that records from 2004-2005 were fabricated to suggest the land was bought from a Dalit farmer, even though it had already been acquired by MUDA in 1992. An aide of Siddaramaiah dismissed the complaint as “frivolous.”
BJP and JD(S) leaders have vocally questioned Siddaramaiah’s actions. State BJP president B Y Vijayendra called it a violation of the election code of conduct and the Representation of People Act.
Union Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy declared, “This scam cannot be covered up like previous ones.”
In response to multiple complaints related to the MUDA scheme, the state government has ordered an inquiry by an IAS officer into the 50:50 alternate site scheme and halted all allotments under it.
Siddaramaiah has dismissed the allegations, attributing them to political motives.
“These allegations are made for political reasons. They are jealous that Siddaramaiah, a backward-class man, has become the CM for the second time,” he said.
He defended the land exchange, noting it occurred while the BJP was in power and his Congress government has since put the scheme on hold. He expressed readiness to return the plots if Rs 62 crore at the market rate was paid for his wife’s land acquired by MUDA.
Regarding the activist’s complaint, Siddaramaiah stated, “If the election commission issues a notice, I will reply as per the law.”
Siddaramaiah criticised MUDA for illegally taking over the land and providing alternate sites as compensation.
“Since we do not want illegalities in MUDA, we have ordered an inquiry and stopped the scheme,” he said, noting the scheme had been misused by real estate middlemen at the cost of original land losers.
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