Opposition Janata Dal (Secular) members on Thursday commenced a dharna in the Legislative Assembly demanding the resignation of Higher Education Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan and an inquiry against him for clearing a proposal that allegedly resulted in private hands getting a stronghold in the prestigious BMS Charitable Educational Trust that has property worth thousands of crores in Bengaluru city.
Raising the issue in the House, JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy alleged that the donor trustee of the trust, which was set up solely with a service motive, had approached him in 2018 when he was the Chief Minister, seeking clearance from the government to the resolution by the trust to change its original deed. Trust’s donor member Ragini Narayan not only wanted to appoint a lifetime trustee but also give him the power to appoint his successor, Mr. Kumaraswamy said, while pointing out that he had rejected it on the grounds that it was not in the public interest.
However, after the collapse of his government, then Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Narayan, who held the Higher Education portfolio, had cleared the proposal and forwarded it to then Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa who too gave his approval. This clearance had been given despite the government’s trustee and IAS office Manjula opposing the changes sought by the trust, he said.
Sharing of seats
It resulted in real estate businessman B. Dayanand Pai becoming the lifetime trustee, Mr. Kumaraswamy said, and alleged that subsequently both Ms. Narayan and Mr. Pai had entered into an agreement to share the seats in various professional colleges being run by the trust on a 50:50 ratio.
Pointing out that the trust, which had got public contribution as well as government land, had property worth more than ₹10,000 crore, he expressed fear that its land might be misused now with private hands gaining prominence.
He alleged that the seat-sharing agreement had been finalised with Mr. Pai after the Minister had ordered an inquiry into the violation of norms by the trust. But suspiciously, the inquiry had not begun at all, he said.
Minister defends
Dr. Narayan strongly defended the decision to allow the trust’s resolution to make changes in the original deed by maintaining that it would not alter the nature of the trust and that the legal opinion by the Advocate General also favoured it. He termed the allegations by Mr. Kumaraswamy as part of political vendetta.
This enraged the JD(S) members who trooped into the well of the House and commenced a dharna seeking the Minister’s resignation. Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri adjourned the House for the day as the session was at the fag end of the day. However, the protesting members announced that they would continue their dharna throughout the night in the House, but changed their decision after Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and several of his ministerial colleagues convinced them otherwise.
Later, Mr. Kumaraswamy told mediapersons that they would resume their dharna as soon as the House meets on Friday.
