"The entire development is politically motivated," Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath said

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Wednesday described the Uttar Pradesh government's move to cancel land allotment worth hundreds of crores of rupees to the Ghaziabad-based Institute of Management Technology (IMT) as "politically motivated".

Kamal Nath said that the institute, founded by his father Mahendra Nath in the 1970s, has all its documents in order. "The entire development is politically motivated. Whatever exists on the land has been developed only after prior approval of the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA). No land has been encroached upon, and the structures on the land aren't new but date back to two-three decades. The GDA has cleared everything. We'll make suitable submissions on the matter before the court," he told mediapersons.

The institute, which ranks among the top private business schools in the country, is headed by Kamal Nath's son Bakul Nath. The Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh had cancelled land allocation to IMT after BJP leader Rajendra Tyagi accused its owners of fraudulently taking possession of 15 acres of prime land in the heart of Ghaziabad.

Rajendra Tyagi claimed that the land actually belongs to the state-run Chowdhary Charan Singh University, and he has documentary evidence to prove that the IMT grabbed it through fraudulent means. "Documents reveal that the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) in 1973 allotted to the IMT a plot near Rajnagar Extension. The institute was supposed to be built on this land. However, the IMT's distance learning centre is currently established on the UPSIDC plot, whereas the IMT main campus is built on a nearby land that was actually owned by the CCSU's Lajpat Rai Degree College," he alleged.

The development is likely to affect thousands of students at the management institute.

Kamal Nath also termed recent disclosures about Income Tax officials recovering crores of hawala money during raids conducted on his close aides last month as "politically motivated". "Everybody in the country knows the real truth behind these supposed disclosures. It's a well-thought-out exercise to divert public attention from the disclosures that my government will make (about the previous Shivraj Singh Chouhan government's tenure) in the future," he said.

The Income Tax department had launched pre-dawn raids against close aides of Kamal Nath and other Congress leaders across Delhi and Madhya Pradesh on April 7. Sources said that many, including Kamal Nath's relatives and Congress politicians from the state, are likely to be summoned in this regard soon.

(With inputs from agencies)