‘Misuse of power at highest level’: BJP targets Congress after Mallikarjun Kharge’s son seeks cancellation of allotted land | India News

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday demanded the immediate resignations of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah after Kharge family’s decision to return land that had been allotted to them.
The BJP argued that this move is an admission of guilt and has demanded legal action against the two leaders.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said that the return of land by Kharge’s family trust was a clear indication of wrongdoing.
Trivedi also drew parallels to a similar incident involving former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, accusing both Congress leaders of abusing their positions of power to acquire land.
“The decision to return the allotted land by Mallikarjun Kharge’s family trust reflects what former CM Siddaramaiah had done earlier. This proves that the Congress, at its highest level, has been involved in misusing power to grab land in Karnataka,” Trivedi said.
Trivedi further attacked the grand old party’s leadership, contrasting today’s leaders with those from the past, such as those involved in Vinoba Bhave’s “Bhoodan” movement. He claimed that under the influence of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders are now engaged in what he called a “bhu-hadap” (land grabbing) campaign.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla also condemned the Kharge family’s actions, following reports that they had returned five acres of land allotted to them by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) in Bengaluru’s Aerospace Park, which was intended for Scheduled Caste entrepreneurs. Poonawalla argued that returning the land does not absolve the family of corruption allegations.
“This return of land will not absolve their criminality or corruption. It is merely an admission of guilt, just as the Siddaramaiah family did when they returned the MUDA land,” Poonawalla said.
He further accused Siddaramaiah of involvement in the MUDA scam, a case in which the former chief minister and his wife have been named as key accused. The BJP alleged that both the Kharge and Siddaramaiah families had returned their allotted lands to avoid legal embarrassment.
Congress chief’s son, Rahul M Kharge’s withdrawal of his land request came shortly after Siddaramaiah’s wife, Parvathi, returned 14 sites to the MUDA, following a Lokayukta police case filed against Siddaramaiah, his wife, and brother-in-law.
The BJP has demanded the immediate resignation of both Mallikarjun Kharge and Siddaramaiah, asserting that their actions have tarnished the Congress party’s image and represent clear instances of corruption, misuse of power, and nepotism.