Land worth Rs 300-400 cr given for Chanakya varsity at Rs 50 cr, alleges Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru, Sep 22: Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Siddaramaiah on Wednesday urged the State government to drop the decision to allot land at a cheaper price to the Centre for Education and Social Studies (CESS) to establish Chanakya University.
Expressing reservation against the move to transfer the land to CESS the members of which are from the RSS, the senior Congress leader said the party would seek legal remedy against the decision.
He claimed that the government allotted land worth Rs 300-400 crore at a throwaway price of Rs 50 crore to the proposed university.
The Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed the Chanakya University Bill to set up a new private varsity.
"All the members of CESS are from RSS. This is an organisation that promotes the idea of Manu. They want to re-establish the Varnashrama system in our society," Siddaramaiah said.
Speaking to reporters here, he alleged that the BJP government hurriedly passed the Chanakya University Bill with a voice-vote in the Assembly without giving room for debate or discussion.
"CESS does not have any prior experience of managing educational institutions and also does not have any infrastructure to start a university. The government should clarify on what criteria has the land been allocated to them," he said.
Noting that the Cabinet in April 2021 decided to hand over 116 acres in Haraluru near Devanahalli to CESS, Siddaramaiah said the notified land was acquired by Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) to establish aerospace and defence industries.
"KIADB had acquired the land at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore per acre and gave compensation of Rs 175 crore to acquire the over 116 acres. The same land is now being given to CESS at just Rs 50 crore. The current market price is Rs 300-400 crore," he said.
Alleging that the government is giving a priced land to a RSS-backed agency at a cheaper price, the former Chief Minister said it is unfortunate that the government has overlooked all regulations related to the setting up of a university. "This is a highly criminal and corrupt attempt by the BJP government," he said.
At a time when the second wave of Covid was at its peak and the government was starved of funds, the then B S Yediyurappa government was trying to gift the priced land to CESS at a cheaper cost, he said.
Siddaramaiah further said the Assembly Speaker was partial in his conduct while passing the Chanakya University Bill. He disallowed the leaders of the opposition to discuss important issues surrounding the Bill.
Karnataka Congress President D K Shivakumar asked as to why the Chanakya University was not given land available next to the Sanskrit University in Magadi.
Why set up an RSS university on land meant for industries? he asked.
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EC role, Hindu vote consolidation among factors for BJP win in Bengal polls: J-K CM Omar
Srinagar (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday attributed the BJP's West Bengal win to a "significant role" played by the Election Commission (EC), alongside a consolidation of Hindu votes and a fractured minority mandate.
Abdullah also said the INDIA bloc needs to define its role in the political landscape of the country and make it clear whether the opposition alliance was limited to the parliamentary elections or extended to the state elections as well.
Talking to PTI Videos, Abdullah hinted that the EC has compromised its neutrality by conducting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal and linked it to the BJP's gains in the state, claiming large-scale deletion of legitimate voters.
On the performance of the BJP in the just concluded assembly elections, Abdullah said the saffron party has almost nothing to show in southern states.
"So then you look at West Bengal and Assam. Yes, the BJP improved its tally in Assam. There are various reasons for that. You know as well as I do, what those are. West Bengal, I think we need to look at the results very carefully," he said.
"The easiest explanation for the West Bengal result is the serious curtailing of voter list," Abdullah said.
"Voters found their names deleted. People who served in uniform and fought for this country on the borders, who were considered Indian citizens all their lives, were suddenly held to a higher standard and not allowed to vote. Something is not right," he said.
While alleging that the EC played a "significant part" in the results, the chief minister admitted the outcome was multifaceted and noted a consolidation of over 60 per cent of the Hindu vote towards the BJP and a "significant fracture" in the minority vote, particularly in seats where Muslims constitute over 50 per cent of the population.
"There is no doubt that the role of the Election Commission played a significant part in the results but we will also have to look at the other factors," he said.
He said the results of West Bengal cannot be compared to those in other states. "The situation was unique to West Bengal. The SIR that was done, the way in which the voter lists were changed, the sort of minute scrutiny that the Election Commission subjected West Bengal to, the role of the central investigative agencies.
"All of these are situations that at least in recent electoral history of India are unique to West Bengal. So to suggest that we can learn lessons from West Bengal and implement them in other parts of the country, I think would not be correct," he said.
Abdullah had recently said that if the West Bengal results throw a surprise, the role of EC will come under scrutiny.
However, during Tuesday's interview, the chief minister said he still maintains that electronic voting machines (EVMs) do not lead to vote theft.
"What we saw in West Bengal...I know there are a lot of people who believe that the EVMs themselves are flawed. I am not a proponent of that conspiracy theory.
"But I do believe that the Election Commission has done itself no favours in the way in which it has gone about both the process of delimitation and the process of finalisation of electoral rolls," he said and cited the example of delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir or Assam.
"These are clear examples of how the process was done to benefit one party or in the case of Jammu and Kashmir, one party and its allies. And the results speak for themselves. You created seven new seats in Jammu and Kashmir and out of those six seats were won by the BJP. You redrew assembly constituencies to benefit one particular party or its allies. And the same is true for West Bengal as well," he said.
Referring to the INIDA bloc, he said the election results were no new message for the alliance.
"We need to decide what the INDIA bloc is for. Is it only for Parliament or for state elections as well?" he asked.
"What happened in West Bengal is unfortunate. The Congress and TMC fought against each other. Now the Congress agrees with Mamata Banerjee that 100 seats were stolen, but the fact is they fought each other," he said.
Despite the friction, Abdullah reaffirmed the "pre-eminent position" of the Congress within the opposition alliance, dismissing the idea of any other party assuming the mantle.
"The Congress is the only party other than the BJP with a pan-India presence. All of us acknowledge this," he stated.
"To suggest someone else can assume a leadership role would be incorrect. Kharge Sahib is the president of the Congress, and by virtue of that, he assumes leadership of the INDIA bloc meetings. That is the way it should be," the chief minister said.
Abdullah said any 'Common Minimum Programme' would depend on whether the opposition alliance decides to fight state assembly elections collectively, noting that he would share his specific views with the bloc internally rather than through the media.
