Bengaluru, 2 August

Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister DK Shivakumar on Friday announced that the One Time Settlement (OTS) scheme for property tax payers has been extended till 31 August.

Speaking to reporters after the 13th Bengaluru India Nano conference, he said, “We have collected Rs 3,000 crore property tax till now. There is demand from the tax payers and BBMP officers to extend the OTS scheme by a month. There have also been some technical glitches. In this backdrop, we have extended the OTS scheme till 31 August, 2024.”

“We will make some changes to ensure that honest tax payers are not affected. In case a tax payer has paid excess tax, it will be adjusted against future tax payments. There is no need to worry,” he said.

‘BJP’s padayatra meaningless’

Asked about the BJP-JDS padayatra against Muda irregularities, he said, “There is no meaning or purpose for the padayatra. They are going to expose their own scams by doing this padayatra. Let them raise corruption issues if they have happened during our tenure. BJP government was known as the most corrupt government in the history of the State. We will ask them 3-4 questions every day about their scams and injustice to Karnataka in the Union budget, let them answer.”

“JDS tried to withdraw from the padayatra fearing losing its stronghold to BJP but they have been coerced to take part in it. It is their internal matter. You ask them what made them change their decision,” he said.

Asked if the Janandolana meetings would be conducted across the State, the DCM said, “We will question them about their scams during the padayatra. Let them answer that first. We will think about the State level later.”

Asked about Rahul Gandhi’s comments on social media that the ED was preparing to raid him, he said, “I don’t have any information on that. Rahul Gandhi is the Leader of Opposition, he has his own sources. You have seen how our investigative agencies function. They are forcing an officer to name the CM in the Valmiki Development Corporation case. I have a list of what the CBI is doing, I will discuss it in detail later.”