Why are Gowda & Co interested in auctioning ‘excess land'

Why are Gowda & Co interested in auctioning ‘excess land'
Vijay Times

If the father and son twosome of H D Deve Gowda and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy assert that they do not own any land in BMIC pathway, then why are they so keen to takeover the excess land? Not just that. They seem to be interested in auctioning the excess land instead of handing it over to the people from whom it has been acquired, as the coalition partner BJP is insisting.

This may appear to be a riddle but it does seem to have a convincing answer ie the JDS suspects that most of the excess land belongs to a former Chief Minister and his relatives, two former ministers and retired top bureaucrat.

These worthies, JDS believes, will make killing as NICE will develop the area around these lands, build access and other roads. Taking over the lands and auctioning them would, JDS believes, will be the "just" reward for these people. Hence, it is opposed to handing over the land to the people in whose names the land stood as the real owners are said to be not farmers but political heavyweights! If the plan, or is it a political game, succeeds, the JDS, especially the father and son combine would be "heroes" as they would deprive the real land owners of any "illegal gain" and get enough money for development work as well and continue to ride on the pro-farmer, pro-poor and propeople image. In the event of land being taken over and returned to the farmers, then the Gowda family will have to continue to battle accusations that they saved their lands at the cost of development.

The K C Reddy committee which identified the excess land, 2,450 acres and 25.75 guntas, was appointed after all by the Dharam Singh-led government!