Karnataka: Social activist SR Hiremath ‘sites’ a scam by home minister KJ George

Bengaluru: Social activist S.R. Hiremath on Wednesday demanded the resignation of home minister K J George on grounds that he concealed certain details while filing his nomination papers for polls to the Legislative Assembly in 2008 and 2013, and while securing a site for his wife from Vyalikaval Co-operative Housing Society.

Releasing copies of documents, which he claimed suggest wrongdoing by Mr. George, Mr Hiremath told the media that the home minister was allotted a “G” category site when he was a member of Chief Minister S Bangarappa’s cabinet in 1992 but did not disclose it when the housing society allotted a site for Mrs Shuja, his wife.

This was grossly illegal he charged while adding that the housing society also handed over the adjacent site to Mr George’s brother, Mr K.J. Kuruvilla. Mrs Shuja was the GPA holder of both sites, he added.

Mr Hiremath alleged that in 2013, Mr George’s family surrendered the site which was later allotted to one of its close associates. Earlier, Mr Hiremath had targeted energy minister D.K. Shivakumar and food and civil supplies minister Dinesh Gundu Rao demanding that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should shunt them out of the state cabinet.

He had said that Mr Shivakumar was daydreaming about becoming chief minister and claimed that he had blatantly violated the laws of the land Mr Hiremath had also played an active role in fighting illegal mining in ore rich Ballari district.

George: All Charges are politically motivated

Mr George countered all allegations levelled by Mr Hiremath; he dismissed them as “politically motivated.” “Who is he to demand my resignation? Even 100 Hiremaths cannot stop me. When the issue of funding of Samaj Parivarthan Samudaya, the NGO run by Mr Hiremath, was discussed in the House (Assembly), the government ordered a probe. The probe is still going on. I am giving my reply to the media so that people can understand what is what,” he told Deccan Chronicle.