New Delhi, June 24: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday levelled serious allegations of land grabbing and corruption in Karnataka against Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and his son, Priyank Kharge, involving the Siddhartha Vihar Trust, claiming that there are multiple instances where the Kharge family has “usurped land belonging to the poor”.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, party spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari stated that Mallikarjun Kharge and his son are involved in corruption and land grabbing in Karnataka through a trust named the Siddharth Vihar Trust.

The trust includes Mallikarjun Kharge, his son Priyank Kharge, his son-in-law, and his wife as members.

“Mallikarjun Kharge and his son, through a trust, are involved in land grabbing and corruption in Karnataka. The name of this trust is Siddhartha Vihara Trust. The trust includes Mallikarjun Kharge, his son Priyank Kharge, his son-in-law, and his wife. I will place before you not one but multiple cases of alleged corruption, showing how Mallikarjun Kharge, through this trust, occupied different parcels of land and used his power and influence to grab land belonging to the poor and attempted land loot at various locations.”

Bhandari presented multiple cases of alleged corruption involving Mallikarjun Kharge, demonstrating how the Congress chief used the trust to take possession of various land parcels, leveraged his power and influence to “usurp land belonging to the poor”, and attempted to “grab land” in several locations.

The first case of land loot, Bhandari claimed, is when in 2024, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) allotted five acres of land to the Siddhartha Vihar Trust when the Congress government was in power, “under the pretext of research and development in aerospace and defence”.

The BJP spokesperson stated that the land was for industrial use but was instead granted to the trust.

“The question arises: did Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyank Kharge misuse their power and influence to grab five acres of industrial land in Karnataka, worth Rs 100 crore, through a private trust? Remember, Rahul Gandhi and the entire Gandhi-Vadra family – Robert Vadra, his brother-in-law – have also faced similar land grab allegations, and cases are ongoing. The same modus operandi that the Gandhi-Vadra family used for land loot has been repeated by Mallikarjun Kharge through the Siddharth Vihara Trust — a prime industrial land worth Rs 100 crore,” he added.

Bhandari stated that the Congress government in Karnataka allotted 19 acres of land to Kharge’s private trust.

“This meant that 19 acres of government land effectively became the private property of a trust whose members include Mallikarjun Kharge and his family. Did Mallikarjun Kharge use his power and influence to usurp this 19-acre plot in Gulbarga? The Congress party must answer why this land was misappropriated; Kharge faces allegations of corruption regarding this land grab and needs to come forward with a response,” he stated.

Referring to another instance, he remarked that the Siddharth Vihar Trust engaged in a “highly unusual act by fielding a ‘dummy’ seller”.

“The trust intended to transfer the land, and it ultimately ended up permanently with Mallikarjun Kharge’s private trust in Gulbarga. To this day, no one knows the identity of this seller. Thus, as a third method of corruption, Mallikarjun Kharge employed a dummy seller,” Bhandari added.

“Just as Robert Vadra grabs land wherever he sees it – and cases are ongoing against him – exactly the same is happening with the Siddhartha Vihara Trust. Wherever there is land in Karnataka, Mallikarjun Kharge, using his influence, grabs it through this trust. Kharge will have to answer for this,” the BJP leader added.

Srinagar, June 24: Hundreds of Shia Muslim mourners on Wednesday joined the Muharram procession in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar city as authorities made elaborate security arrangements for the smooth and peaceful conduct of the procession.

Black flags dotted the roads as volunteers opened stalls to provide refreshments to people joining the Muharram procession, which began at Guru Bazar and culminated in the Dalgate area.

A huge number of people wearing black dresses beat their chests to remember the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet of Islam.

While the volunteers at the refreshment stalls provided water and cold drinks to the mourners, the medical department had set up makeshift camps along the procession route to provide healthcare facilities.

Mourners murmured elegies in remembrance of the Martys of Karbala.

The procession moved with absolute discipline through Budshah Chowk, the Maulana Azad Road and finally to the Dalgate area.

To streamline the movement of mourners, traffic department officials had made special route regulation arrangements providing traffic-free passage to the procession and an alternative route to those coming from outside the city.

Special parking arrangements were made for people joining the procession in Batmaloo and other places beyond the route designated for the procession.

No untoward incident occurred during the procession as senior civil and police officials remained present.

Muharram processions were disallowed by the authorities after terrorism started in Kashmir in the 1990s. With the improvement in the overall situation, authorities have been allowing this traditional procession during the last three years.

As per the Shias, Imam Hussain went on the invitation of the people in Kufa along with his family and supporters to make peace, while the army of Yezid surrounded them at Karbala near the banks of the Euphrates River. Denying water even to the minor children during the siege. Imam Hussain refused to surrender to evil and chose martyrdom to write the history of the triumph of truth over evil with his blood.

The Battle of Karbala was a tragic historical event fought on October 10, 680 CE (10th of Muharram, 61 AH) on the plains near the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq. It resulted in the massacre of Husayn ibn Ali — the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad — and his small caravan by the massive army of the Umayyad Caliph, Yazid. Although Shia Muslims carry out mourning processions during the month of Muharram, the mourning to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain is common to both Shia and Sunni Muslims alike.

Ahmedabad, June 24: Gautam Adani, the Adani Group Chairman, on Wednesday said that FY2025-26 was another year of disciplined growth and strong execution for the Group, and its consolidated portfolio revenue stood at Rs 2.92 lakh crore, thereby reflecting a year-on-year growth of 7.4 per cent.

Addressing shareholders at the Adani Group’s 34th Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2026, Gautam Adani said they are now one of the very few global companies that are not reacting to the future but are prepared for it.

“At Adani Energy Solutions, our transmission order book rose to Rs 72,000 crore. We secured several major projects, including the Khavda South Olpad HVDC line, reinforcing our position as India’s only private sector player with proven HVDC capability,” the billionaire industrialist told the gathering.

“At Adani Power, we are implementing India’s largest ever private sector power capex programme of over Rs 2 lakh crore, with a target of reaching 45 GW of capacity over the next five years. We are also honoured to be partnering with the Government of Bhutan’s Druk Green Power Corporation. As part of this partnership, the Adani Group and the DGPC will jointly develop 5,000 megawatts of hydropower projects in Bhutan,” the Adani Group Chairman explained.

The Group’s entry into nuclear energy through Adani Atomic Energy is another confident step towards securing India’s long-term energy future.

“With land identified and a 10 GW targeted capacity by 2035, we are positioning ourselves early to serve the growing national demand for clean, round-the-clock power,” Gautam Adani noted.

“At Adani Total Gas, we accelerated and crossed the significant milestone of over 1.1 million Piped Natural Gas home connections. Given the current geopolitical situation, we are further ramping up our PNG projects to meet India’s rising demand for more accessible gas. Coming to connectivity and logistics, Adani Ports handled over 500 million tonnes of cargo in FY 2025-26, setting an unmatched benchmark for the nation and creating a clear pathway to one billion tonnes by 2030,” Gautam Adani highlighted.

The integrated network of ports, SEZs, logistics assets and expanding maritime services “places us in a unique position to keep gaining market share while lowering the cost and complexity of India’s trade”, the Adani Group Chairman noted.

“I am proud to specifically say that Vizhinjam, one of the most strategic ports on the global maritime route, delivered a record first year by crossing one million TEUs. This is the fastest pace ever achieved by any Indian port and a strong signal of India’s arrival on the global transshipment map,” said Gautam Adani during his speech.

In airports, the Group achieved two defining milestones with the opening of Navi Mumbai International Airport and the new integrated terminal building at Guwahati Airport, both inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Earlier this year, both these airports made it to the list of the World’s Seven Most Beautiful Airports. The commencement of operations at Navi Mumbai in December 2025 also marked a proud moment in India’s aviation landscape, with a 90-million-passenger-capacity-airport built in a world-record time of just over four years,” said Gautam Adani.

In digital and industrial infrastructure, the Group’s Data Centre business is firmly on the path to building a 3 GW platform by 2030.

“The binding MoU for a gigawatt-scale data centre with Google in Visakhapatnam reflects both the scale of the digital demand ahead, and the confidence that global technology leaders such as Google, Microsoft, Uber and Flipkart are placing on us,” the Adani Group Chairman noted.

“At Adani Cement, we contributed to iconic national projects ranging from the Chenab Railway Bridge to Navi Mumbai International Airport and the Umiya Dham foundation in Ahmedabad. Over the past year, our cement platform expanded significantly, with total capacity increasing to 110 MMTPA,” Gautam Adani added.

The Adani Group Chairman further added that in defence and aerospace, “our ambition became even bolder”.

“Our partnerships with Leonardo and Embraer are helping lay the foundation for integrated helicopter and regional aircraft manufacturing ecosystems in India. We are building a national aerospace platform that spans manufacturing, MRO, services and pilot training,” Gautam Adani said.