The Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to turn its demand in the Legislative Assembly for a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the alleged denotification of large tracts of land — acquired by Bangalore Development Authority for the Arkavathi Layout — by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah into a campaign by taking it up before people.
This decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the party’s highest decision-making body, the State Core Committee, here on Tuesday.
BJP State president Pralhad Joshi told presspersons after the meeting that the party would launch its first-phase of campaign against the Congress government by holding protests in prominent places of the State on August 7, seeking a CBI probe into denotification of 641 acres of land. The party would also convince its Central leaders, including the national president, about the seriousness of the issue, he said. He said the party would hold a meeting of the persons who have been allotted plots in the Arkavathi Layout to enlist their support for the campaign.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar reiterated his demand that Mr. Siddaramaiah must quit “if he has any morality left”.
Denying Mr. Siddaramaiah’s allegations that he set the stage for denotification as the BDA had resolved to accept the denotification proposal when he was the Chief Minister, Mr. Shettar said that the resolution by the BDA was not the final step.
“When the issue came before the government, I did not give the permission to denotify the land. But Mr. Siddaramaiah not only cleared such a proposal for denotification, but also increased the extent of denotification of land by more than 100 acres,” he alleged.
(The Hindu)
