Karnataka government drops 500 acres from acquisition plan, MB Patil urges farmers "not to continue strike"

Karnataka Minister MB Patil announced that 500 acres will be excluded from land acquisition in Channarayapatna. Assuring fair compensation, he urged farmers to end their strike after meeting CM Siddaramaiah. 

Bengaluru: Amid rising tensions over land acquisition in Channarayapatna taluka, Karnataka Minister MB Patil on Tuesday assured farmers that no further land acquisition will take place, following several farmer-friendly decisions after a meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and farmer representatives.

MB Patil urges farmers to end strike

Speaking to reporters, Patil acknowledged the farmers' protests, said their concerns were heard, and urged them not to continue the strike.

"Today the farmers staged a protest. We had a meeting with the CM and the farmer leaders. They had requested that some major villages, which had irrigation and which were closer to Channarayapatna, should not be acquired. Accordingly, we are going ahead with three villages. Whoever wants developed land, 10,871 sq ft of developed land will be provided to those farmers," he said. 

"For the first time, the government has taken the decision of leaving 500 acres of land out of acquisition and fair compensation will be given by the government to the farmers. Also, the government has promised that there will be no further acquisition in that taluka... I request the farm leaders to not go ahead with the strike," he added further.

Patil accuses Housing Board of corruption in housing scheme

Patil stirred controversy in state politics in a separate development by levelling serious allegations against the Housing Board, claiming that houses under the Rajiv Gandhi housing scheme are allotted only after bribes are paid.

According to Patil, he is supposed to meet Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tomorrow (June 25) after the latter invited him for a meeting, possibly to discuss the allegations raised. Patil acknowledged that it was his voice in the audio clip that went viral on social media, where a phone conversation purportedly between Patil and Sarfaraz Khan, the personal assistant (PA) to Karnataka Housing and Minority Welfare Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, has brought the Congress government under fire due to allegations of irregularities in the housing allotment.

"The CM called me for a meeting. I will meet him on the evening of June 25. He asked me where I was and whether I was coming to Raichur. He asked me to meet him. He did not ask me anything about the audio. I have owned that it was my voice," Patil told reporters here.