Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge has said that it was the Congress government that decided to declare Tandas, the Lambani hamlets, as revenue villages and ended the anxieties of millions of Lambani community members over the uncertainties of ownership of land they were living on.
Addressing a public meeting organised at Koravi Tanda in Chincholi taluk on Sunday, the Minister listed out the initiatives that he had, as a Social Welfare Minister in the previous Congress government, taken for the development of Banjara (Lambani) community.
“We had given ₹240 crore to Tanda Development Corporation. We declared several hamlets as Sewalal Pragathi Tanda and gave up to ₹2 crore for their development. We announced the construction of 400 community halls in Lambani Tandas and gave ₹25 lakh each. I had also allocated ₹190 crore for the development of Suragondanakoppa, a holy place for Lambanis, in Honnali taluk of Davangere district. However, the BJP government stopped all these initiatives,” he said.
Obliquely pointing to Kalaburagi Lok Sabha member Umesh Jadhav and his son and Chincholi MLA Avinash Jadhav, Mr. Kharge questioned why all those who did politics in the name of Banjara community and rose to power by grabbing community votes did not continue the initiatives and work for the development of their own community.
“I am not afraid of anyone. When I am not afraid of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, do I bother about these local leaders? I speak the truth. They may put me behind bars just as they did to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. I don’t care,” he said.
Party leader Subhash Rathod and others were present.
