From Rs 4 cr to Rs 1,444 cr: Kumaraswamy links Shivakumar wealth to project fraud - The Indian Express

Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy Tuesday levelled serious allegations against Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, claiming the CM’s wealth ballooned from Rs 4 crore to Rs 1,444 crore in a decade due to fraud committed while implementing the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMICP), also known as the NICE Road.

When The Indian Express reached out, the Chief Minister’s Office said he would respond to Kumaraswamy’s allegations later in the day.

According to Kumaraswamy, the alleged fraud took place in 2004, when Shivakumar was the urban development minister in the Karnataka Government.

“On February 12, 2004, Shivakumar and Ashok Kheny, chairman of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises Limited (NICE), approved an Outline Development Plan by changing the Framework Agreement of the NICE project,” the Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel alleged.

Among the key violations Kumaraswamy highlighted was what he said was the inclusion of additional survey numbers for the project. He said the alterations are contrary to the Transaction of Business Rules, and the saleable area in townships close to NICE Road increased from 45 per cent to 55 per cent.

He also referred to a Karnataka High Court order which said that the NICE project was “…a fraud on the statute and Constitution”. “The State authorities are accomplices in this fraud and gross breaches and violations of the FWA [Framework Agreement],” the high court had said.

Kumaraswamy alleged that the illegal nexus between Shivakumar and Kheny helped the CM accumulate wealth at farmers’ expense. “D K Shivakumar is directly involved in the biggest scam of Karnataka since Independence and should resign as Karnataka CM,” he said at a news conference.

The Union Minister also said that the passports of Shivakumar and Kheny must be seized as they could flee the country. “This scam is bigger than Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, who ran away by committing just 10 per cent of this fraud,” the JD(S) leader claimed.

He also urged commuters not to pay tolls while using the NICE Road.

Responding to the issue, Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said that Kumaraswamy is unable to come to terms that Shivakumar has become the chief minister and is making baseless allegations daily.

“Talk to the Centre and cancel the agreement if you can. You too had power when you were CM. You did not cancel the agreement (with NICE) then…. No one stands to gain if you only criticise without taking any decisions when you had power,” he said.