Bengaluru, 13 Oct

The chairperson of Siddhartha Vihar Trust and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Rahul M Kharge, has withdrawn his request for the allotment of five acres of civic amenity site in Bengaluru to set up a 'Multi-Skill Development Centre, Training Institutes and Research Centre'.

The move comes close on the heels of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi returning the 14 sites to Mysuru Urban Development Authority after the Lokayukta police registered a case against Siddaramaiah, his wife and brother-in-law.

The BJP IT department in charge Amit Malviya in a social media post questioned the allotment of the site and called it ‘misuse of power, nepotism, and conflict of interest’.

Kharge’s younger son Priyank Kharge, who is a minister in the State government, shared the information with the scanned copies of the letter on X.

In a letter to the Chief Executive Officer of the Karnataka Industrial Development Board (KIADB) on 20 September, Rahul wrote, "Withdrawal of our request for Civic Amenity site to set up Multi Skill Development Centre, Training Institutes and a Research Centre."

He said the objective of the Siddhartha Vihar Trust was to create more employable opportunities through skill development in emerging technologies for students and unemployed youth.

"The proposed Muiti-Skill Deveiopment Centre aimed primarily to serve youngsters to make them more employable and industry ready with skills and future skills. It was also designed to help students who were unable to pursue college education," Rahul said.

The trust preferred a site within the KIADB industrial area because of its proximity to high-growth industries as it would provide invaluable exposure and opportunities for young people, he said.

"Siddhartha Vihar Trust is a public educational, cultural, and charitable trust and not a private or family-run trust. All institutions established under its aegis are ‘Not for Profit’," he explained. -PTI