Bengaluru: A day after senior minister MB Patil conceded that only 11 acres in Vijayapura belong to Waqf Board and 1,200 acres of farmers' land were erroneously marked as waqf assets, Karnataka govt announced Monday that it will withdraw notices issued to the farmers for acquisition.
The govt's U-turn follows protests by hundreds of farmers in Vijayapura and BJP raising the bogey of ‘land jihad'. With upcoming byelections, Congress feared BJP might turn the controversy into a poll issue.
"The Congress government does not have any intention of taking away farmers' lands. The BJP is pursuing politics in the matter unnecessarily. It is incorrect to carry out politics over the issue," said HK Patil, law and parliamentary affairs minister.
The nub of the issue is the planned takeover of 1,200 acres of farmers' land in Vijayapura district's Honavada in Tikota taluk, about 500km from Bengaluru. MB Patil, who's vested with Vijayapura district, traced the confusion to "an error in a gazette notification" and said only 11 acres are with Waqf Board.
HK Patil said the tahsildar of the region has committed a mistake and the govt will recall the notices.
About demands for the resignation of house and waqf minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, HK Patil said, "Why should Zameer quit? The mistake is made by the tahsildar. If the tahsildar had served the notices, then the deputy commissioner will look into it."
After protests by farmers, Bangalore South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya visited the affected farmers on Friday and criticized the govt. In response, Congress said the deputy commissioner is investigating the matter, and the process to withdraw the notices would begin shortly.
On Monday, BJP's R Ashoka alleged that Congress was attempting to "seize 15,000 acres of farmland" in Vijayapura district in the guise of Waqf acquisition.