Political storm in Karnataka as BJP targets Kharge over land grab claim
New Delhi, June 24: Targeting Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused him of usurping 19 acres of government land in Karnataka.
BJP’s national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said in a press conference at the party headquarters on Wednesday that Kharge and his son are looting land and indulging in corruption in Karnataka through a trust. The name of this trust is Siddharth Vihar Trust. Kharge, son Priyank Kharge, son-in-law and his wife are included in this trust. This trust belongs to Kharge’s family.
Bhandari said, “The allocation of 19 acres of land in Gulbarga district is also controversial. The Congress government allotted 19 acres of public land to Kharge’s private trust. This means that 19 acres of public land came under the control of a private trust whose members include members of Kharge’s family.”
He alleged that Kharge and Priyank Kharge, through this trust, acquired various lands and used their political influence to usurp land belonging to the poor.
He said that this is not the first case of land grabbing. In 2024, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board allotted five acres of land to this trust. At that time, the Congress government was in power in Karnataka. Mallikarjun Kharge was the Congress president and still is, while Priyank Kharge was a minister.
Pradeep Bhandari said that the stated purpose of the land was research and development in the aerospace and defense sectors. He alleged that the market value of this five acres of land is around ₹100 crore, but no action has been taken towards the purpose for which the land was allotted.
He questioned why the Karnataka Congress government granted industrial land worth 100 crore rupees to a trust in which Mallikarjun Kharge himself is a trustee.
Bhandari asked whether Kharge and Priyank Kharge used their position and influence to seize the industrial land. What significant action did the trust take that led to the aerospace and defense research land being given to your private trust?
