JD (S) leader S.R Mahesh (second from left) addressing a press conference in Mysuru on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: M.A. Sriram
Welcoming the State government’s decision to cancel allotment of around 1,100 sites by Mysuru Development Authority (MDA) under the controversial 50:50 ratio scheme, JD (S) leader and former Minister S.R. Mahesh urged Urban Development Minister Yathindra Siddaramaiah to cancel all the illegal allotments made under the scheme since 2019.Addressing a press conference in Mysuru on Thursday, Mr. Mahesh said MDA, which was formerly known as Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), had been allotting sites under the controversial 50:50 ratio scheme since 2019.Claiming that allotment of more than 2,200 sites had been approved by the Authority since 2019, Mr. Mahesh said the scam is estimated to be worth around ₹4,000 to ₹5,000 crore.While making it clear that he was not opposed to allotment of incentive sites to certain genuine land-losers, Mr. Mahesh said allotment of sites had been made in the name of certain land-losers, who had already accepted compensation, through middlemen.Though the 14 sites allotted to former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi, also a land-loser, under the scheme in 2021 had already been surrendered to the Authority following a row, Mr. Mahesh told Mr. Yathindra that there is speculation in certain circles that the government had not cancelled the sites allotted between 2019 and 2023 because of the allotments of 14 sites made to his mother under the scheme.However, he sought to clarify that he was not making such an allegation against Mr. Yathindra. “I am not saying this. I have faith in you”, he said while urging the Urban Development Minister to cancel all the sites allotted under the scheme, except for the ones that have been allotted under court’s directions and proper government procedures.“How can there be two sets of laws - one for sites allotted after 2023 and another for the ones allotted prior to 2023?”, he questioned.It may be mentioned here that Mr. Yathindra has already stated that the government, which has cancelled allotment of sites under the scheme after March 14, 2023, will also examine allotments made prior to March 14, 2023 to ascertain whether any rules were violated.Law and orderMeanwhile, Mr. Mahesh said there was a need for the police authorities to remain alert in view of the likely “law and order” problem that could arise in the wake of the cancellation of the allotment of sites under the scheme.If the allotment is cancelled, the people to whom the sites had been sold will invariably go and demand the money back, he said.Though he reiterated that he will not oppose the allotment of incentive sites to genuine land-losers, the government should identify the illegal allotments and cancel them within the next 15 days. Published - August 20, 2026 07:53 pm IST
