Bengaluru: Barely a week after insisting he had “all the information” on those who cross-voted during the legislative council elections and promising action, JD(S) state president and Union minister HD Kumaraswamy Monday virtually ruled out action against the “black sheep”.JD(S) legislators had even authorised him to identify party MLAs who allegedly cross-voted and penalise them, but Kumaraswamy played down the incident, saying some legislators may have acted in the “interests of their constituencies” after being promised development grants.Terming the episode a “closed chapter”, Kumaraswamy said the party should focus on unseating the Congress govt and bringing the JD(S)-BJP alliance to the helm in 2028.“Legislators were offered grants ranging from Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore, and some may have voted for Congress. We should move on and focus on the 2028 elections,” Kumaraswamy said.On BJP’s Legislature Party meeting at Dharmasthala, he said there was nothing wrong with the decision. But he alleged cross-voting was often driven by “money power and muscle power” and said such incidents were not uncommon in politics.Fight against Bidadi townshipKumaraswamy, meanwhile, said he had formed a legal team to represent farmers opposing land acquisition for the proposed Bidadi township project. He said he had proposed township projects at five locations during his tenure as CM in 2006 but withdrew the plan in Aug 2007 after opposition from top Congress functionaries.Questioning attempts to link him to the current project, he said the preliminary acquisition notification was issued by the present govt on March 12, 2025, and the final notification on June 10 this year. He alleged influential middlemen and real estate interests were behind the project and that authorities had failed to respond to objections filed by some 4,500 farmers.He rejected the govt’s compensation package, saying “I am ready to discuss the project with the CM. Let him fix the date and time.”
