'Let JDS raise Bidadi Township issue in Assembly, we'll reply': Karnataka CM Shivakumar

Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said, "Let the JDS members discuss the Bidadi Township issue in the session on behalf of HD Kumaraswamy. We will give a reply."

Responding to a question on Kumaraswamy challenging him to a debate at Bairamangala, the CM said, "I won't say anything now. I had called for a debate earlier itself, but he did not come. Let him get it discussed in the upcoming session through his party members and other experienced politicians."

When asked about Kumaraswamy releasing documents, Shivakumar replied, "I wish him all the best."

Earlier on Sunday, amid the ongoing political row over the Bidadi township project in Karnataka, Youth Wing president of JD(S) Nikhil Kumaraswamy held a padayatra in Bidadi against the state government over land acquisition for the township.

Speaking to reporters, Kumaraswamy said, "The entire Janata Dal (Secular) party is here today...even a small worker of the party is participating today. Overall, we have come prepared to stand with and fight for the farmers of 26 villages, including Byramangala and Kanchugaranahalli, to protect their land with great clarity."

Earlier, state BJP president BY Vijayendra claimed that 80 per cent of farmers are against the township and are not willing to give up their land after the Karnataka government's final notification to acquire nearly 500 acres for the proposed Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township (GBIT) near Bidadi.

He urged Chief Minister D K Shivakumar not to push farmers to give away their land, claiming that farmers have been "threatened by goondas" to do so.

Meanwhile, Shivakumar said the notification for the project was issued by Kumaraswamy and later continued by BS Yediyurappa. "The farmers of Bidadi are good people. They are being misled. Isn't Kumaraswamy the father of this project? He has admitted it himself," the Chief Minister said.

"We are only taking it forward. We are not doing anything new. Who acquired land for the Bidadi industrial area? In the existing 9,000 acres, didn't former BJP CM Jagadish Shettar acquire 1,000 acres?" he asked.

The row erupted in May after Shivakumar accepted a challenge from Union Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy for a public debate regarding the Bidadi township project. The Janata Dal (Secular) party opposed the development, alleging it is driven by a land mafia operating under political patronage. (ANI)