Legislators allotted land meant for homeless in Karnataka

Last May, the Yeddyurappa government came to power in Karnataka with a promise that it would provide 15 lakh houses to the homeless and 60,000 sites to the landless.

Karunakar Reddy, MLA from Bellary, is mining magnate with assets worth 82 crores. Y Sampangi, MLA from Kolar has been arrested early this on bribe charges. These are two of the 66 Karnataka Legislatures who have been given residential plots in Bangalore, meant for the homeless, the <i>aam admi</i>. Fifty-three of these prime plots have gone to BJP MLAs and Chief Mminister Yeddyurappa sees nothing wrong with it.

"Whoever has not got the sites in Bangalore, they are eligible and I am going to sanction them," said Yeddyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka.

The Government Order, a copy of which is with NDTV, might not come under the Election Commissioner scanner as it went out just a few days before the Lok Sabha poll notification. But the question is are these housing sites meant for politicians?

"You know why he has given them? There is infighting among the BJP only to keep them in good humour, he has given as baksheesh to the legislators," said Ugrappa, MLC, Congress.

"I have applied four times. I am born and brought up in Bangalore, waited for the past five years and still not got the allotment. Why, only the MLAs are privileged?," questioned Latha Srikanth, a resident of Bangalore.

The Chief Minister's gift to his rich legislators has made the middle class angry, for some of whom a site in Bangalore is still a dream.