In a bid to turn heat on main Opposition BJP, which has been making all the hue and cry on the issue of corruption, Congress on Monday launched a frontal attack on the saffron party by putting up a volley of posers against its top leaders for their association with Kushabhau Thakre Nyas in Bhopal, which has got 20 acres of prime land in the city at a nominal rent.
Dubbing BJP as Bharatiya Juggler Party, AICC spokesperson Manish Tewari said, “I want know from the leaders like L.K. Advani and Venkaiah Naidu, who are trustees of the Nyas that giving a land worth `60 crore for just `1 as annual rent is illegal or immoral.” This he said, while alluding to an earlier remark by BJP President Nitin Gadkari over the land allotment controversies in B.S. Yeddyurappa-ruled Karnataka.
“Congress demands Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan must explain to the nation. Lal Krishna Advani, Venakaiah Naidu and BJP must explain their association with the trust,” Mr Tewari said.
Reports said that BJP government in MP allotted 20 acres of prime land in Bhopal worth `60 crores to a trust set up in the memory of late party president Kushabhau Thakre by twisting rules. Reports also had it that the trustees in this body include BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Venkaiah Naidu while its secretary is sitting BJP MP and former chief minister Kailash Joshi.
Mr Tewari said the 20 acres of land was leased to the trust for 33 years in 2006 for a premium amount of a mere `25 lakh against an amount `4.60 crore, which the district collector of Bhopal estimated the price of the land at that time.
Mr Tewari added that the trust was paying a token annual rent of a mere `1 instead of `27 lakh that the collector had recommended.