The Opposition Congress on Friday accused the BJP-led saffron alliance Government of having allotted a prime piece of land to actress and its party MP Hema Malini at a nominal price of `70,000, a charge that State Revenue Minister Ekmath Khadse swiftly denied saying that the Government had made the allotment as per rules.
A month after the Maharashtra Government allotted a 2,000 sq metre plot of land to Hema Malini’s organisation “Natyavihar Kala Kendra Charity Trust” for developing a cultural complex at suburban Andheri, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Ashol Chavan charged that the BJP flouted procedures by allotting the sizeable plot of land at the throwaway price.
Chavan also released the information obtained under an RTI query which showed that the veteran actress was allotted the land located in suburban Oshiwara, at the rate of `35 per square metre by the Mumbai Suburban District Collector. The market value of the land was estimated to be running into crores of rupees, he said.
The Congress leader said that while allotting the prime plot of land — reserved originally for a garden — to the actress, the State Government had tweaked the rules.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued here in the evening, State Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse contested Chavan's allegations. "The allotment of land made to the actress is not new. The State Government has allotted the land to the actress in lieu of a piece that the State Government had allotted to her in 1996. Since the land that the actress had been allotted in 1996 came under the Coastal Regulation Zone, the State Government has allotted 2,000 sq metre of alternative plot. The reserved land has been allotted to the actress following due procedures. She has been asked to pay `10 lakh for possessing the rights over the land," Khadse said.