BJP to stage two-day sit-in from June 14 against JSW land sale: Yeddyurappa

Bengaluru: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday will stage a two-day sit-in from June 14 against the sale of 3,667 acres of land to the JSW Steel in Ballari, the party's Karnataka unit chief B S Yeddyurappa said Wednesday.

The protest is also to highlight the "insensitivity" of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government towards the prevailing drought in the State, he told reporters here.

"We have decided to stage round-the-clock sit-in demonstration for two days against the failure of the government. Earlier we had decided to stage three-day demonstration but we will hold the protest on June 14 and 15 because all the MPs are going to Delhi on June 16," Yeddyurappa said. Welcoming the state government's stand to revisit the decision on allotment of land to JSW Steel, he said a survey of the land was required.

"It is a welcome decision that the government intends to revisit the allotment of land to the JSW Steel (at Vijayanagar in Ballari district). However, there is a need toidentify the presence of iron ore in that land with the help of a geologist and create a document about it."

The BJP chief claimed that the parcel of land government intends to sell was not ordinary one because it was iron ore rich land worth crores of rupees. He emphasised on bringing the facts to the notice of the state's people after a detailed survey with the help of a geologist. Yeddyurappa expressed his displeasure over the "insensitivity" of the state government towards the prevailing drought in the state. He accused the government of not fulfilling its promise of clearing the debts of all farmers in the state.

Caught in a row over the controversial land deal, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Tuesday said the government's decision on sale of 3,667 acres to JSW Steel will be reconsidered and placed before the cabinet once again for discussion.

The Karnataka cabinet had recently decided to convert the lease of 3,667 acres to JSW Steel in Ballari into sale, in accordance with the initial agreement.

Yeddyurappa has alleged that the Congress-JD(S) coalition received "kickbacks" for selling the land.