It is a farce: Ex-MLC Madhusudan

Mysuru: Amid the latest tussle among Congress and Opposition BJP-JD(S) about State BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra allegedly offering Rs. 150 crore bribe to silence the then Chairman of Karnataka State Minorities Commission Anwar Manippady, who had accused several of the leaders to have grabbed Karnataka State Waqf Board’s properties, former MLC G. Madhusudan said that among those who have usurped Waqf properties the majority are Congress leaders.

Madhusudan was addressing media persons at City BJP Office in Chamarajapuram, this morning.

Madhusudan, who was the Chairman of Privileges Committee during 2013-15, recalled the initial developments, following the tabling of the report by Manippady then, highlighting the extent of Waqf properties encroached upon by the netas.

“Upa-Lokayukta Justice Anand had probed into the findings of Manippady’s report and had submitted a report in six volumes, that is with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too. Qamarul Islam was the Minister for Minorities Welfare and had pooh-poohed Manipaddy’s report as utter  lies. Dr. A.H. Shivayogi Swamy had handed over the probe to Privileges Committee headed by myself and I had also replied on the floor of the House that, Qamarul Islam had lied in his defence,” said Madhusudan.

L.K. Atheeq Ahmed, IAS Officer, who had deposed before the Committee, had also presented in detail about the places wherever irregularities  had occurred.

The Waqf lands at Bidar and Kalaburagi have been encroached upon, including the land belonging to Khwaja Bandanawaz dargah.

Mallikarjun Kharge, N. Dharam Singh, C.M. Ibrahim and Qamarul Islam have constructed Asian Mall and Apartment, to protect which Junior Kharge (referring to Priyank Kharge, RDPR Minister in Siddaramaiah’s Cabinet) is speaking vociferously due to the fear of losing the asset.

The land where Windsor Manor hotel stands in Bengaluru is spread over 1.65 lakh square feet of land totalling four acres, but former Union Minister K. Rahman Khan has encroached upon 40,000 square feet of land valued at Rs. 2.39 lakh crore, alleged Madhusudhan.

“Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is struggling without any funds to pay for Bhagya schemes amounting to Rs. 5 lakh crore. If the aforementioned assets are auctioned, several more schemes can be implemented and even Shakti, the free bus scheme for women, can be extended to men. Moreover, all brands of liquor can be served for free from Mysore Sales International Limited (MSIL),” said Madhusudan in a mocking tone.

He also likened the recent statement of CM Siddaramaiah on Waqf to the case of ‘Drone’ Prathap who experimented with explosives by throwing a mix of chemical pastes into water.

It is the biggest joke of the year 2024 that Vijayendra had gone to Manippady’s house to offer him Rs. 150 crore bribe to save Congress leaders, who had been named in Waqf row, said Madhusudan, dismissing the claims of Siddaramaiah.

City BJP President L. Nagendra, Rural President L.R. Mahadevaswamy, Media Convener M.S. Mahesh Raje Urs and Assistant Media Convener B.M. Santosh Kumar were present.