Bangalore:
The sons of some of Karnataka's most senior politicians are threatening to provide vertiginous shifts in their fathers' fortunes.
First, the son of Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu was arrested for allegedly trying to bribe an official to not name him in a questionable land deal.
"Whether they are minister or Chief Minister - parents cannot be held responsible for the actions of their children," said Yeddyurappa when asked to comment on whether any action would be taken against Katta Naidu. The remark was loaded with prescience.
Another real estate deal is now looming over Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and his own children.
Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) party claims that Yeddyurappa misused the state's land acquisition rules to benefit his sons.
One acre and 12 guntas, located in the newly-formed Arkavathy layout in Bangalore, was bought by a firm in 2006 with which the chief minister's two sons and son-in-law are associated as Directors.
"That land value now costs minimum 60-70 crores. That land actually illegally Yeddyurappa to favor his son. Favoritism, nepotism and even abuse of illegal power. He misused the office to favor his sons. In this issue he cannot continue as a Chief Minister," says Kumaraswamy.
According to Kumaraswamy, first the land was acquired by government from farmers. Then the chief minister's sons were allowed to buy it.
The chief minister's office sent out a response defending the denotification -"It is legally permissible to drop land from land acquisition before the Government takes possession of the land and so there was no violation of any laws."
According to Kumaraswamy, another site owned by the Bangalore Development Authority was also allotted to Yeddyurappa's son, Raghavendra, at the Chief Minister's discretion for a throwaway price - 8 lakh for a plot worth crores, according to Kumaraswamy. However, local rules state that this sort of special site cannot be allotted to anyone who already owns land in Bangalore.