Bengaluru demolition: Vijayan’s 'minority' googly on election eve sets AICC on backfoot

A seemingly routine eviction drive by the government in Bengaluru has landed the Siddaramaiah-DK Shivakumar duo in political cross currents, placing them at odds with the LDF-ruled Kerala and the AICC on one side and the Opposition BJP on the other.

The AICC has jumped into the fray after sensing that Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan is trying to cash in on a routine demolition operation in Bengaluru by giving it a minority twist as the southern state heads to assembly polls in a few months. AICC general secretary (organization) KC Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra represent Kerala’s Alappuzha and Wayanad in the Lok Sabha.

The Kerala CM fired by first salvo on Saturday by calling the demolition of temporary sheds and eviction operation at Fakir Colony and Waseem layout in North Bengaluru as “Bulldozer Raj,” a reference Congress used to target the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh. “Sadly, the Sangh Parivar’s anti-minority politics is now being executed under a Congress Government in Karnataka,” Vijayan said in a post on X.


CM Siddaramaiah and Dy CM DK Shivakumar quickly responded, calling Vijayan’s comments as politically motivated timed for the upcoming assembly polls in Kerala. But by then it was too late for the Congress.

Though CM & Dy CM have given a long explanation on the events that preceded the demolition including issuance of notices to the illegal settlers and health hazards involved in living at the BBMP’s waste dump site, AICC has not bought it. In a telephonic chat with both Siddaramaiah & Shivakumar on Saturday, Venugopal conveyed AICC’s serious concern that the government should exercise caution and deal with such a situation with sensitivity and compassion, keeping human impact at the centre. The AICC leader also extracted a commitment from the Karnataka CM that the government would rehabilitate the affected families.

Under attack from both Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram, Siddaramaiah has called a meeting in Bengaluru on Monday to assess the fallout of demolition on the settlers there and to plan alternative housing arrangements there. Most of the settlers there were, according to Siddaramaiah, immigrant workers.

Shivakumar on Saturday said the government would rehabilitate the affected families under the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Scheme.

CPI(M)-led Left, which rules Kerala and the Congress are both part of the INDI alliance that fought the Lok Sabha polls together, last year. In Kerala, both LDF and the Congress-led UDF are sworn enemies and Venugopal’s initiative is aimed at preventing any damage from the party government’s actions in Bengaluru on its loyal Muslim vote base in Kerala.

BJP: “Is Venugopal Super CM?”

KC Venugopal’s intervention in a government demolition drive in Bengaluru has set the Opposition BJP and the Congress on a warpath.

Opposition leader R Ashoka sought to know if Venugopal was a “Super CM” and if the Congress leadership believed in elected state governments functioning on the Delhi diktats. “Expressing a party's opinion is one thing, issuing moral sermons and pressure tactics on a state government is blatant overreach,” he said in a post on X.

“This selective outrage exposes the truth: this is not about humanity or sensitivity, it’s about Congress high-command politics, Kerala appeasement, and electron optics, especially when Priyanka Gandhi represents Kerala,” Ashoka said.

BJP State President BY Vijayendra warned of an agitation by Kannadigas if the government caved in to AICC’s orders and took steps to appease minorities in Kerala by sacrificing Karnataka’s interests.

Shivakumar, the Dy CM, however, maintained that Venugopal has every right to give suggestions to a party government.