Click to play videoBengaluru: The Yeddyurappa government that's been on the backfoot till now has gone on the offensive. The state government has released documents of illegal land deals by JD(S ) National President HD Deve Gowda's family.
He's not been a well known face of the BJP, but over the last two months he's been Yeddyurappa's voice against the land scams. Over this period, B J Puttaswamy, the Chief Minister's political secretary, has launched a tirade against the land scams of the Opposition parties - for the BJP's reaction to the Congress and JD(S)'s allegations of land scams has always been just one thing: the Gowdas have bigger scams in their kitty.
"It's proved prima facie regarding illegal grant of land divisional commissioner who has given clear cut report," said Political Secretary to Chief Minister B J Puttaswamy.
But he admitted it's too difficult to calculate just how much land the Gowdas have illegally acquired.
"We've still not found out. We're going one by one. They may have got 1000 of acres in benami name," said Puttaswamy
The grand old man of the JD(S) is unmoved; his son HD Kumaraswamy has even challenged the Chief Minister to prove any illegally-acquired land.
"I openly challenged in front of the Chief Minister today, he has not reacted," said JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy.
"If it is proven that I have or my possession is illegal, then he can take my land also and distribute to Dalits or his own family. Blackmailing tactics won't work," said H D Deve Gowda.
But that's probably the JD(S)' strength. The BJP sources say they have to go back to land records to the 1960s to get proper records and the proof is hard to get.
The divisional commissioner's report of 1991 is Puttaswamy's tool against the Gowdas' land grabbing - an enquiry done nearly 20 years back that indicts Gowda's family for grabbing 82 acres of agricultural land in Hassan and Ramanagaram districts. The BJP government has now launched an ad campaign highlighting the land grab of the Gowdas now.
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