Bengaluru, July 14 (IANS) The ruling Congress on Tuesday intensified its attack on Union Minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy, over the violence during the Bidadi Township Project survey, alleging that the unrest was politically motivated and orchestrated to defame Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar. The party also accused the Union Minister of adopting a dual stand on environmental issues.

While senior Congress MLA, H.C. Balakrishna, accused Kumaraswamy of sponsoring the protests, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister, Eshwar Khandre, alleged that the Union Minister was adopting a dual stand on environmental issues.

Meanwhile, the protests against the project escalated further, with a section of farmers threatening to consume poison if officials attempted to resume the land survey, even as another group staged a demonstration demanding speedy implementation of the township.

Addressing reporters, senior Congress MLA, H.C. Balakrishna, alleged that Kumaraswamy was directly responsible for Monday’s violence in Mandalahalli village.

“Kumaraswamy is sponsoring buses and sending his workers there. The Prime Minister has not assigned him any work at the Centre. Instead of concentrating on his responsibilities as a Union Minister, he is focussing on Bidadi and provoking farmers. Perhaps, as the BJP has become irrelevant in Karnataka, they have sent Kumaraswamy here,” Balakrishna alleged. “We are ready for everything,” he added.

Balakrishna further claimed that the Bidadi Township Project was originally conceived during Kumaraswamy’s tenure as Chief Minister.

“We are implementing Kumaraswamy’s dream project. Today, he is opposing it only for political reasons. Everything happening in Bidadi is part of a Kumaraswamy-sponsored drama company. The objective is to create a crisis and bring disrepute to Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar,” he alleged.

Defending the government’s actions, Balakrishna said officials were not conducting the Joint Measurement Survey (JMC) by force.

“The survey is being carried out only in areas where farmers have submitted consent letters. The final notification for the Bidadi Township Project has already been issued, and the chances of withdrawing it are very minimal. Without the JMC, farmers cannot receive compensation for their land,” he said.

Justifying the FIRs registered against protesting farmers, Balakrishna said cases would naturally be filed whenever government officials were assaulted.

“If government officials are attacked, FIRs will be registered against anyone, including you and me. Even as an MLA, an FIR was filed against me for scolding a government official. I had to fight that case in court for eight years,” he said.

Minister for RDPR, Eshwar Khandre also accused Kumaraswamy of playing politics over the township project.

“The violence in Bidadi is politically motivated. Everyone knows who is behind it. Kumaraswamy says the township project will harm the environment, but when it comes to HMT forest land, he views it purely from a real estate perspective. Why this double standard? He must answer the people,” Khandre said.

He also pointed out that Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had already stated that the Bidadi Township Project was initiated during Kumaraswamy’s tenure as Chief Minister.

Meanwhile, protests against the township project intensified on the ground. Farmers opposing the project reportedly carried poison bottles and warned that they would consume poison if officials returned to conduct the Joint Measurement Survey. The protesters reiterated their demand that the project be scrapped and that no further survey should be undertaken.

In contrast, another group of farmers in Bhyramangala village staged a demonstration in support of the Bidadi Township Project. They blocked the Bidadi-Harohalli Road and demanded that the government expedite the implementation of the long-pending project.

“We have suffered for nearly 20 years due to the delay. The government should speed up the implementation of the township project,” the protesting farmers said.

The Bidadi Township Project continues to sharply divide opinion, with the ruling Congress defending it as a long-pending development initiative while Opposition parties and a section of farmers accuse the government of attempting to acquire fertile agricultural land against the wishes of cultivators. The situation in the region remains tense and volatile, with the administration preparing to hold talks with the farmers and also resume the survey under enhanced police security.

–IANS

mka/rad