Udupi (The Hindu): Bharatiya Janata Party leader and the former MLA, K. Raghupati Bhat, said on Saturday that his party opposed the handing over of six acres of the total 13.2 acres reserved for the taluk offices complex to the Karnataka Housing Board (KHB).

Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, Mr. Bhat said that there had been a long pending demand for a separate Brahmavar taluk. Hence, 13.2 acres of land at Indira Nagar in the heart of Brahmavar town was sanctioned for construction of future taluk offices, taluk panchayat and taluk court in the 1990s.

The Jagadish Shettar government, in its budget presented in 2013, had announced the formation of 43 taluks, including Brahmavar, in the State. But it could not be implemented, Mr. Bhat added.

A few days ago, KHB started distributing pamphlets in Brahmavar, stating that plots of five cents would be made available to those wanting to buy them. It wanted to create a layout there. The rate mentioned was Rs. 2.3 lakh for every cent of land. At this rate, only the rich could buy the sites.

Even if KHB wanted to create a layout, it could have chosen an interior area such as Aroor, M r. Bhat added.

“What is the need to construct a layout in a prime area reserved for government offices? By doing so, the Congress government has delivered a blow to the dreams of people of Brahmavar to have a taluk headquarters,” he said.

Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports, Pramod Madhwaraj, is the MLA for Udupi Assembly constituency under which Brahmavar is located. He has remained silent over the issue. Earlier also, when the Postgraduate Centre of Mangalore University was shifted from Kolalgiri near Udupi to Belapu near Kaup, Mr. Madhwaraj had done nothing to prevent it, Mr. Bhat charged.

BJP was totally opposed to the KHB layout coming in Indira Nagar. The government should withdraw the land given to KHB. The BJP would stage a massive demonstration on this issue near Brahmavar Bus Stand at 3 p.m. on Monday. It would then take out a procession from the Bus Stand to the Special Tahsildar’s Office, where it would submit a memorandum, Mr. Bhat said.