YEDDYURAPPA LANDS IN TROUBLE OVER HELPING KUMARASWAMY
Cancelled govt acquired land to benefit Kumaraswamy
BENGALURU: Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa in 2009 illegally cancelled the government acquisition of a prime piece of land to benefit the relatives of his predecessor, barely two years after the leaders had a bitter falling-out, official documents show.
After he replaced HD Kumaraswamy as chief minister, Yeddyurappa denotified the 1979 procurement of over an acre of land by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and Kumaraswamy’s mother-in-law and brother-inlaw directly gained from this, the records reveal.
Based on the documents submitted by RTI activist Jaykumar Hiremath, the state lokayukta anti-corruption police registered an FIR on Wednesday against BJP national vice-president Yeddyurappa, JD (S) state chief Kumaraswamy, his two relatives as well as several government officials. A lokayukta official said the FIR was registered after the documents submitted by Hiremath were found to be authentic.
The dossier shows that in February 2007, about 28 years after the BDA took possession of the land, a man named Rajashekharaiah approached then CM Kumaraswamy, claiming to be the original owner of the property.
In an application the same month, Rajashekharaiah request- ed that the land titles be restored in his name and said the plot was still in his possession. The revenue department said this was not possible and before Kumaraswamy could push the matter further, Yeddyurappa and the BJP brought an end to his tenure by withdrawing support to the government.
However, two years after he became chief minister, Yeddyurappa denotified the land as requested by Rajashekharaiah.
After the order was passed, Rajashekharaiah vanished from the scene and Kumaraswamy’s mother-in-law Vimala surfaced with a general power of attorney over the land. She sold the plot— worth about ` 50 crore today— to her son, TS Chanappa.
This is not the first illegal denotification case against the two leaders. A similar scam forced Yeddyurappa to resign as chief minister and spend 23 days in jail in 2011. The two leaders could not be reached for comment.