Kumaraswamy rakes up Congress’s 2006 report against Bidadi township project

On Sunday, the JD(S) party, backed by its coalition partner BJP, commenced a padyatra to protest the Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township (GBIT) project. This project, slated to occupy approximately 7,481 acres of land in nine villages near Bidadi, sparked controversy as early as 2006. During the protest inauguration, Union minister H D Kumaraswamy invoked a 2006 fact-finding committee report prepared by the Congress, which cited opposition to the Bidadi township project.

The committee, comprising D K Shivakumar, the current chief minister, read excerpts from the report, which alleged that landowners were actually brokers who acquired the land at a low cost (Rs 5-10 lakh per acre) and now sought to sell it to the government at a much higher price.

Kumaraswamy vowed that the JD(S) party would bring to light any discrepancies during the monsoon session of the legislature. Meanwhile, D K Shivakumar, released a video message ahead of the event, asserting that no farmers would be forced to relinquish their land for the project. The padayatra commenced from Byramangala and concluded in Bengaluru, following a committee's formation by the Congress government.

The committee, led by retired high court judge Justice Guhanathan Narendar, aimed to reassess the project in light of the backlash from landless farmers and the two parties involved. The Opposition leader, R Ashoka, representing BJP at the march, vowed to prevent the construction of the project until its future was decided. Shivakumar, in his video, touted the project's potential to become a world-class AI City, complete with advanced infrastructure.

He also highlighted the increase in compensation from Rs 25 lakh in the past to Rs 3 crore per acre, emphasizing the project's voluntary nature with no coerced land acquisitions.