A Karnataka BJP leader has accused Rahul Gandhi’s close aide and Indian Overseas Congress president Sam Pitroda of grabbing government land worth Rs 150 crore. Pitroda responded to this on Wednesday. He said – I do not have any land, house or shares in India. Karnataka BJP leader NR Ramesh has been a councilor from Bangalore. He alleged that Pitroda illegally acquired 12.35 acres of government land in Yelahanka, Bangalore with the help of 5 officers. He did not return the land even after the lease period ended. The value of the land is Rs 150 crore. Ramesh filed a complaint with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Lokayukta and requested that a criminal case should be registered against all the people including the officer involved in the land grabbing case. Sam Pitroda wrote on X… In reference to the reports in the Indian media, I want to say that I do not have any land, house or shares in India. I never took any salary while working with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the 1980s and with Dr. Manmohan Singh from 2004 to 2014. I have never given or accepted bribe in India or any other country in my 83 years of life. The allegations are false. BJP leader’s claim – Took forest department land on lease in 1993 BJP leader Ramesh said in his complaint that Pitroda registered an organization named Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Tradition (FRLHT) in the Registrar of Co-operative Societies Office, Mumbai Maharashtra on 23 October 1993. Pitroda requested the Karnataka State Forest Department to lease a reserve forest area for conservation and research of medicinal herbs. On Pitroda’s request, the department gave 12.35 acres of reserved forest land in B Block in Jarkabande Kaval near Yelahanka in Bengaluru on a five-year lease in 1996. The initial five-year lease granted to FRLHT expired in 2001, after which the Karnataka forest department extended it for another 10 years. Pitroda’s lease to FRLHT in Mumbai expired on 2 December 2011 and was not extended. When the lease expired, the state forest department had to take back this 12.35 acre valuable government land, which is now worth more than Rs 150 crore. Ramesh alleged that the forest department officials did not make any effort to take back this land in the last 14 years. 10 days ago Pitroda had said – China is not India’s enemy On February 17, Sam Pitroda had said, India should stop considering China as its enemy. The threat from China is often exaggerated. Instead of considering China as an enemy, it should be respected. I do not understand what threat India faces from China. We all should come together and work. India needs to change its attitude towards China. Read the full news… —————————————————– Read this news related to Sam Pitroda too… How Odisha’s Satyanarayan became Sam Pitroda: Indira brought him to India, was Rajiv’s friend; embarrassed Congress with these controversial statements ‘Today I am very angry. If someone abuses me, I don’t get angry. I tolerate it, but today the prince’s philosopher has abused me so badly, which has filled me with anger. Someone please tell me whether in my country merit will be decided on the basis of skin.’ PM Modi said these things in a rally in Warangal. He was expressing his displeasure over a statement made by Indian Overseas Congress president Sam Pitroda. Actually, Sam had said in an interview to The Statesman, ‘We can keep a diverse country like India together. Where people from the East look like Chinese, people from the West look like Arabs, people from the North look like whites and people from the South look like Africans.’ Read the full news…
