The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched a fresh attack on the Karnataka government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, alleging a land scam involving a trust managed by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s family. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Lahar Singh Siroya claimed via Twitter that the Siddhartha Vihara Trust, associated with Kharge’s family, was allocated 5 acres of land by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) under the Scheduled Caste (SC) quota, intended for civic amenities. Siroya questioned the appropriateness of this allocation, asking, “When did the Kharge family become aerospace entrepreneurs to be eligible for KIADB land? Is this about misuse of power, nepotism, and conflict of interest?” The land in question is situated in the Hitech Defence Aerospace Park near Bangalore, and Siroya highlighted that trustees of the Siddhartha Vihara Trust include Mallikarjun Kharge himself, his wife Radhabai Kharge, son-in-law and Gulbarga MP Radhakrishna, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge, and another son, Rahul Kharge, among others. Siroya has called for an investigation into this alleged misuse of power, targeting Karnataka’s Industry Minister MB Patil and questioning how the transaction was approved in March 2024. The BJP MP has also raised the issue with the Governor’s office, drawing a parallel with the controversial land allocations involving CM Siddaramaiah in Mysore.
