From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Aug 9: In a move to corner the Opposition BJP ahead of the byelections to the three assembly constituencies in the State, Congress leaders in the State have sought to exert pressure on the BJP opposition leader in the Karnataka assembly JagadishShettar by urging the chief minister Siddaramaiah to institute an inquiry by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police for allegedly violating land revenue rules in allotting prime land in Bangalore to an individual.
Shettar, who had succeeded the present Union Railway Minister D V SadanandaGowda as the State’s chief minister during the BJP rule in the State, had allegedly flouted land revenue rules in April 2013 to allot prime land in the city to a private individual.
The BJP opposition leader in the Assembly had during his tenure as the chief minister shortly before the State assembly elections in 20q3, had allegedly sanctioned four acres of prime land in the city to Sundaresh in Srigandadakaval in the City,
The land was earmarked for public and semi-public purposes and the allotment to a private individual by flouting the land revenue rules was a gross violation and criminal offence, the Congress leaders have alleged.
It may be recalled that the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) has already filed an FIR against Shettar in the allotment of land in the City.
The Congress leaders who met the chief minister with their demand for a CID probe into the alleged land allotment are: Legislators H M Revanna, V S Ugrappa, P M Narendraswamy, S T Somashekar, M T V Nagaraj, P M Ashok and Munirathna.
A large number of Congress workers called onSiddaramaiah, along with the legislators, at his residence Krishna and submitted a memorandum and sought the CID probe against Shettar.
Shettarhas alleged that the BMTF filed an FIR against himafter he raised alleged involvement of Siddaramaiah in 541 acres land denotification case in the Arkavathi Layout in Bangalore.
The BJP leader said that he allotted the land as per a court direction and had not violated any laws.