JOIN US“If the government or the Opposition parties get me land in Chikkaballapur at Rs 50 lakh per acre, I will buy it. The going rate is not less than Rs 1 crore. The vocation of my community people - Arya Vysya- is business. My elder brother sold the land which he had purchased from farmers to KHB because he was pressurised to do so by KHB Chairman G T Deve Gowda.”
Speaking to media persons on Wednesday, Setty, who is now Muzrai Development Board Chairman said he was ready to face any inquiry as he has done nothing illegal as Housing Minister. He said his brother Srinivas Setty purchased 31 acres of land in Chikballapur three years ago, and he is not a GPA holder as alleged by the Opposition. KHB planned to purchase the land last year, he added.
“My brother’s land in Siddlaghatta in Chikballapur was adjoining the main road. He could have got not less than a crore per acre. But G T Deve Gowda pressurised him to sell the land to KHB on the grounds that land around my brother's land was for sale and it would be difficult to save the land. The land prices went up dramatically after KHB purchased the land from my brother. No injustice has been meted out farmers,” Krishnaiah Setty asserted.
He further said there was no need for him to cheat the government, farmers or anyone and amass wealth. “The salary I earned as minister went towards feeding the poor children. Now as Chairman my salary comes to Rs 80,000 a month. I am not drawing it. I am giving it to the welfare of employees of my department. You can verify the information under the Right To Information Act. God has given me sufficient wealth. Why should I cheat farmers or anyone,” he asked.
Setty also said in Devanahalli the land prices have gone up. But the Congress government had purchased land from farmers for the airport project by paying Rs 20 lakh an acre.