Kumaraswamy’s bungalow is just 1 km from Township II

Kumaraswamy’s bungalow is just 1 km from Township II
The Times of India

Kethiganahalli (Bangalore rural): Cruising at 80 kmph on the four-laned Bangalore-Mysore state highway-17, the possibilities of missing a coconut grove at the 35th milestone by a blink is high.

Well, that belongs to chief minister H D Kumaraswamy whose presence he had denied till the other day. A sprawling bungalow with an unused swimming pool and two television antennas is what one gets to see while standing at the entrance, gates of which are kept open.

But unlike Kumaraswamy’s claim that the farm is not near the BMIC expressway or the project area, a realty check revealed that it is just 4 km from the expressway and 1 km from the proposed second township. A youth who was bathing cows at the nearby pond pointed to the house and said: “Our CM doesn’t stay here, but it has made our village popular.’’

On the BMIC controversy, he said: “We feel good as it has increased the land prices in our area. What used to sell for Rs 3 lakh an acre four years ago is now being sold for Rs 50 -60 lakh. I don’t understand political equations, we feel more such projects should come.’’

Her feelings are what the local panchayat members echoed recently. Fearing that their lands would be acquired for the second township being put in place under the BMIC project, the members submitted a representation to the CM recently requesting him to stall acquisition proceedings for the time-being. TNN