Bidadi Township: Fight turns intense as HDK attacks CM over wealth, calls him ‘real estate baron’

HD Kumaraswamy. | Photo credit: PTI

The heat over the Bidadi Integrated Township project is turning into a flashpoint between Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, both of whom are vying for leadership among the Vokkaliga community. On Sunday, Mr Kumaraswamy launched scathing personal attacks on the chief minister and questioned the growth of his wealth over the past two-and-a-half decades.

A Union Minister in Mandya called the Chief Minister a “real estate baron” and questioned the growth of Mr Shivakumar’s wealth from just three acres of ancestral land in 1999 to ₹1,400 crore by 2018. to accumulate such wealth so quickly, it would benefit the public,” he remarked sarcastically. Mr Kumaraswamy alleged that the Chief Minister had teamed up with real estate mafia operators to run the racket.

Referring to the now scrapped Bengaluru Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC), Mr. Kumaraswamy said the nature and scope of the project changed after the then Chief Minister HD Devegowda moved to Delhi as Chief Minister and blamed Mr. Shivakumar, who was the chairman of the BMIC office, for the efforts that were subsequently made to acquire land under the BMIC banner.

Responding to Mr Shivakumar’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appreciated the township project, Mr Kumaraswamy said the industrial townships built 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, Magadan legislator HC Balakrishna, a confidant of Mr. Shivakumar, told reporters in Bengaluru on Sunday that Vokkaliga community leaders – Leader of Opposition R. Ashok and Mr. Kumaraswamy were trying to tarnish Mr. Shivakumar’s image out of vindictiveness.

Stating that Mr Shivakumar has already admitted his involvement in real estate, he said, “Anitha Kumaraswamy (Kumaraswamy’s wife) has 60 acres on 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 wanting to continue the project during his second term in 2018.

Mr. Balakrishna said, “If Mr. Kumaraswamy was honest, he could have withdrawn the notification and removed the red zone that froze all transactions. Former Prime Minister HD Devegowda could have convinced his son to drop the project. It is ridiculous that the very person who conceived the project is now raising his voice against him. They are bent on tarnishing Mr. Shivakumar’s image.” Turning his attention to Mr. Ashok, he asked, “Who is not involved in real estate? Everyone is involved. R. Ashok also spoke about this. Is he the son of Kubera? Will you investigate how he accumulated wealth after entering politics? Did you acquire wealth by cultivating land? Both Mr. Kumaraswamy and Mr. Ashok are community leaders and are unable to accept that Mr. Shiva has become Mr. Shiva.”

BJP seeks Rahul Gandhi’s intervention

The main opposition BJP has also raised the ante on the Bidadi Integrated Township project and sought the intervention of senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, to stop it. In a letter to Mr. Gandhi, BJP state president BY Vijayendra called it a “state-created land grab” and urged him to “take a public stand on the matter and direct your Chief Minister to stop this land acquisition until the farmers of Bidadi are truly heard, their objections are investigated and a fair and transparent process is put in place.”

Mr. Vijayendra said, “You travel the country raising the banner of land rights for farmers. You talk about protecting Indian land from the grip of corporate interests and have led yatras built for that very purpose. 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.”

Published – 14 Jun 2026 21:23 IST