Protesters demand action against misuse of KKRDB funds

Former Aland MLA Subhash Guttedar, along with BJP leaders and villagers from Aland taluk, staged protests in Kalaburagi city on Thursday, demanding action over the alleged misuse of KKRDB funds and irregularities in elections at the Bhusnoor Cooperative Sugar Factory.

The agitation began at the Deputy Commissioner’s office, where the protesters submitted a memorandum seeking an inquiry into alleged malpractices in Wednesday’s election for the factory’s board of directors.

Mr. Guttedar alleged that the election officer had distributed fake ballot papers to support a panel backed by the ruling party MLA. He claimed the officer acted under political pressure because many at the booth were expected to vote against the MLA-supported group. He also accused factory staffer Sanju Kapur and election officer Shivanand Ashtagi of manipulating the voters’ list and demanded their suspension.

BJP leader Chandrashekhar Hiremath claimed that ballot papers meant for the Janata Bazaar elections were used intentionally to mislead voters. He sought legal action against the factory authorities, officials responsible, and all those involved in electoral malpractices. 

Former vice-president of zilla panchayat Harshanand Guttedar demanded a fresh election, revision of the voters’ list, and voting rights for farmers who had cleared their dues.

Later, the protesters marched and assembled outside the KKRDB office and continued their protest, accusing massive corruption in development works in Aland taluk.

Alleging large-scale misuse of KKRDB funds for several road works in Aland taluk, Mr. Guttedar claimed that works were executed with poor quality and had deteriorated within months. He pointed to the 4.5 km stretch of Yelinawadagi Road, constructed at an estimated cost of ₹4 crore, which got damaged even before completion of the work. Despite complaints to the district administration, no action was taken against the contractor, he alleged.

He further claimed that the road construction work order for Wagdari–Rippanpalli Road connecting Padasavali village road was illegally processed through the Chittapur sub-division to enable financial irregularities. According to him, engineers from Chittapur approved bills for an Aland project, enabling misappropriation. 

He questioned why the district administration remained silent despite repeated violations.

He demanded that errant contractors be blacklisted and strict action against responsible officials within 15 days, failing which he would launch a dharna at Freedom Park in Bengaluru.