Kerala BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar named in alleged ₹500-crore KIADB land scam

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar has been named in a petition alleging irregularities in the allotment of 175 acres of farmland by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) to BPL India Ltd. for a colour television, tube, and battery manufacturing unit at Nelamangala in Dobbaspet.

According to the petition reported by The South First, the land was acquired from farmers in 1995 at ₹1.1 lakh per acre. KIADB issued a possession certificate on 23 May 1995 and a registered lease deed on 17 April 1996. However, no industrial development reportedly took place at the site until 2004. The land was allegedly mortgaged to the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait with KIADB’s permission and subsequently converted into an absolute sale in 2006.

The complaint claims that large portions of the allotted land were later sold to companies including Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., BOC India Ltd., and Jindal Aluminium Ltd., amounting to over ₹500 crore. Advocate KN Jagadesh Kumar has petitioned the Karnataka government to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe alleged misuse of industrial land and recover public assets.

Chandrasekhar’s lawyer, Sanjay Prabhu, clarified that the BJP leader has had no association with BPL for over two decades. A close aide described the allegations as politically motivated ahead of the Kerala elections.

The case has sparked wider concerns over KIADB’s land allotments, with reports that over 70% of acquired land has not been used for genuine industrial purposes. Recent protests by farmers in Devanahalli over compulsory land acquisition and controversies over caste-based land reservation policies have added to the scrutiny of KIADB’s practices.