Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and State Congress President D.K. Shivakumar has blamed Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who had decided to establish the Bidadi township in the outskirts of Bengaluru, adding that he will not denotify the land and go to jail like former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.
“I will sincerely try to help farmers within the framework of law,” Shivakumar said on Thursday.
He was addressing protesting farmers in front of the Ramanagara Deputy Commissioner’s office on Thursday, who are opposing the land acquisition.
“When the Bidadi industrial area was formed, farmers knew which government was in power. At that time, 16,000 acres of land were acquired. Companies including Toyota came to this region. Even I lost 12 acres of my land when it was acquired for the industrial area. The compensation given then did not even cross Rs 8 lakh,” he said.
“To provide better compensation for you (farmers), discussions have been held about raising nearly Rs 10,000 crore in loans. We have no necessity to acquire your one acre of land. But I cannot release land that has already been acquired, by bypassing the legal framework,” Shivakumar added.
“Union Minister Kumaraswamy’s wife and son, along with nearly 70 per cent of the farmers, have accepted the acquisition and applied for compensation. Only about 30 per cent have not agreed. However, I will discuss what decisions need to be taken for your (farmers’) benefit and what kind of help can be extended,” he said.
“I cannot take a special decision only for the Bidadi area,” he added.
“Out of 9,600 acres, around 912 acres were allocated for industries. Compensation was fixed at Rs 1 crore or more per acre. No one opposed it at that time. Why are you (farmers) opposing it now?” he asked.
“We are also working on Krishna Upper Bank Project and Mekedatu Project acquisitions. The Supreme Court has ordered that compensation must be as per the notification date. But recently, in the case of land acquired for the Peripheral Ring Road north of NICE Road, compensation has been fixed even beyond court orders. Separate rates were fixed for commercial and residential purposes. About Rs 27,000 crore has been raised through loans for the project, and affected farmers are already receiving compensation,” Shivakumar said.
When farmers pointed out that Union Minister Kumaraswamy had announced at a rally that land acquisition would be dropped, Shivakumar retorted, “That is false. No land acquisition has ever been dropped. Today, he holds a high position — let him himself cancel the acquisition for you (farmers).”
“The acquisition was done for the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA). The case has reached the Supreme Court. There has been no development since then. I have not initiated any fresh acquisition. Why was NICE project land not cancelled? Because we must proceed strictly as per law,” he clarified.
