The heat over the Bidadi Integrated Township project is turning into a flashpoint between Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, both of whom are vying for leadership among the Vokkaliga community. In a turn on Sunday, Mr. Kumaraswamy made sharp personal attacks on the Chief Minister, questioning the growth of his wealth over the past two and a half decades.

Terming the Chief Minister a “real estate baron”, the Union Minister, in Mandya, questioned the growth of Mr. Shivakumar’s assets from a mere three acres of ancestral land in 1999 to ₹1,400 crore by 2018. “The Chief Minister owes an explanation to the people of Karnataka on his rapid accumulation of such large amounts of wealth. He should, in fact, conduct training sessions on how to accumulate such wealth so rapidly. It would greatly benefit the public,” he remarked sarcastically. Mr. Kumaraswamy alleged that the Chief Minister had himself joined hands with real estate mafia operators to run the racket.

Recalling the now-scrapped Bengaluru Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC), Mr. Kumaraswamy said the nature and scope of the project changed after the then Chief Minister H.D. Devegowda moved to Delhi as Prime Minister, and blamed Mr. Shivakumar, who was Chairman of the BMIC Authority, for the efforts subsequently made to grab land under the banner of BMIC.

Reacting to Mr. Shivakumar’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appreciated the township project, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the industrial townships developed in Gujarat were built on dry and uncultivable land, while the Bidadi township is proposed on “fertile agricultural land wrested from farmers”. He asked Mr. Shivakumar to visit Gujarat and see for himself.

Sharp counter

Meanwhile, in a sharp counterattack, Magadi legislator H.C. Balakrishna, a confidant of Mr. Shivakumar, on Sunday told reporters in Bengaluru that efforts are being made to tarnish Mr. Shivakumar’s image out of vengeance by Vokkaliga community leaders — Leader of Opposition R. Ashok and Mr. Kumaraswamy.

Stating that Mr. Shivakumar had already acknowledged his involvement in real estate, he said: “Anitha Kumaraswamy (wife of Kumaraswamy) has 60 acres in the notified land. Where did they get the money to buy it? Did they sell potatoes and buy this land? They should explain.” He also accused Mr. Kumaraswamy of having wished to pursue the project even during his second tenure in 2018.

Mr. Balakrishna said: “If Mr. Kumaraswamy had the honesty, he could have withdrawn the notification and removed the red zone that froze all transactions. Former Prime Minister H.D. Devegowda could have convinced his son to drop the project. It is laughable that the very person who conceived this project is now raising his voice against it. They are determined to tarnish Mr. Shivakumar’s image.” Turning his attention to Mr. Ashok, he asked: “Who is not involved in real estate? Everyone is involved. R. Ashok has spoken about it too. Is he a son of Kubera? Will you investigate how he accumulated wealth after entering politics? Did you acquire property by cultivating land? Both Mr. Kumaraswamy and Mr. Ashok are community leaders, and they are unable to accept that Mr. Shivakumar has become the Chief Minister.”

BJP seeks Rahul Gandhi’s intervention

The principal Opposition BJP also upped the ante regarding the Bidadi Integrated Township project, seeking the intervention of senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, to halt it. In a letter to Mr. Gandhi, BJP State President B.Y. Vijayendra termed it a “State-engineered land grab” and urged him to “take a public position on this matter and direct your Chief Minister to halt this land acquisition until the farmers of Bidadi have been genuinely heard, their objections examined, and a fair, transparent process is put in place.”

Mr. Vijayendra said: “You travel the country raising the banner of land rights for farmers. You speak of protecting India’s soil from the grip of corporate interests, and you have led yatras built around precisely this cause. Yet here in Karnataka, the Congress Chief Minister continues unmoved, even as some of the State’s poorest farmers are pushed to the brink of losing everything they own. I believe this contradiction deserves your attention.”