2 min readNew DelhiJun 26, 2026 03:34 AM IST
The BJP on Wednesday leveled allegations of misuse of public land and corruption in Karnataka against the Siddharth Vihara Trust linked to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and his family.
BJP National Spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari claimed that several acres of valuable government and industrial land in Bengaluru, Gulbarga and Banashankari were allotted to the trust in the name of aerospace, defence, Pali research, while the trust had no actual work in these fields.
Bhandari alleged that Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyank Kharge used their political influence to transfer land belonging to the poor, farmers and the public in favour of their private trust. There was alleged land-grabbing connected to the Siddharth Vihara Trust in 2024, Bhandari claimed, when the KIADB (Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board) allotted five acres of land to it.
“At that time, Congress was in power in Karnataka, Mallikarjun Kharge was Congress President (and still is), and Priyank Kharge was a minister… Siddharth Vihara Trust had neither done any work in aerospace nor carried out any research in aerospace or defence,” he alleged.
Bhandari questioned how the government could allot five acres of industrial land to a trust in which Mallikarjun Kharge himself is a member, when this land should have been given to an institution connected with industry or aerospace.
Reacting to Bhandari’s allegations, Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge said that his papers were publicly available. “People are asking for the accounts of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, but the BJP is working overtime to demand the accountability of Lord Buddha in Kalaburagi,” said Kharge.
“Modi Sarkar has been in power for 12 years. If there was wrongdoing, why am I still roaming free and not in jail?” asked the Congress leader.