CM trying to protect Congress leaders who encroached Waqf property, alleges former MLC Madhusdhan

Former MLC and BJP leader G. Madhusudhan alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was trying to protect senior Congress leaders whose names figured in the Upa Lokayukta report over encroachment of Waqf property.

Speaking to media persons here on Monday, Mr. Madhusudhan ridiculed the allegations of Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Mr. Priyank Kharge that the current State BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra had tried to offer ₹150 crore to the then Minorities Commission chairman Anwar Manippady to hush up his report on encroachment of Waqf properties.

Mr. Madhusudhan, also the chairman of the Privileges Committee, said it was incomprehensible as to why BJP leaders would be keen to hush up a report in which names of many Congress leaders have figured. “Why would BJP leaders try to stop a report that exposed encroachment of land by Congress leaders?” he questioned.

He recalled his tenure as the chairperson of the Privileges Committee and said that the Council had asked him to probe allegations against a minister who was accused of misleading the house while answering a question on the subject of Waqf land encroachment and the Upa Lokayukta report.

Mr. Madhsudhan claimed that as part of the inquiry, the staff of the Minorities Commission submitted an affidavit with stamp paper before the Privileges Committee and details of the misuse or encroachment of Waqf’s property and people behind it.

The value of the land way back in 2011 was pegged at Rs. 2.39 lakh crore and amounted to nearly 40,000 acres, said Mr. Madhusudhan who listed out a slew of names of prominent leaders – both past and present whose names figured in the Upa Lokayukta report.

“Bulk of the Waqf land encroachment is by the Muslim leaders themselves, and Mr. Siddaramaiah was now trying to protect them,” he alleged.

The encroached land should be reclaimed and auctioned, and it will help the government announce more free schemes for both men and women, he said.

He further said that Mr. Kharge’s allegations were the ‘joke of the year’, and the people of the State were not fools to believe such statements. What is equally ridiculous is that CM Siddaramaiah was trying to lend credence to it, the former MLC said.

When questioned as to why the BJP Government which came to power subsequently did not act on the report, Mr.Madhusudhan said there were legal issues as well but it is for the then Chief Ministers B.S.Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai to answer, he quipped. They tried and the process was on by when the BJP’s tenure ended, he added.

City BJP unit president and former MLA L. Nagendra and others were present.

Published - December 16, 2024 06:57 pm IST