Keralites like him, says Shivakumar after the BJP Kerala unit pounces on him over his comment

Bengaluru: Deputy CM DK Shivakumar spent part of his Tuesday controlling a political damage arising out of his remark on Keralites in the wake of his government’s demolition of two unauthorized Muslim colonies in Bengaluru.

His earlier remark that “I don’t want any Keralites,” to convey a view that Karnataka CM would deal with the rehabilitation of people displaced in the demolition, and they don’t need Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s interference, quickly went viral. The BJP’s national and Kerala units pounced on him at a time when Karnataka’s ruling Congress is struggling to recover from the fallout of the demolition.




As sharp reactions escalated, Shivakumar later said his comment was targeted at the Kerala government, and not Keralites. He said he shared a cordial relationship with Malayalees. “The people of Kerala like me and I have respect for them.”

Shivakumar, who campaigned in the Wayanad bypolls for Priyanka Gandhi last year, said he would again campaign for the Congress during the upcoming assembly polls in Kerala, and his party will displace the LDF rule there.

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla called Shivakumar’s statement unacceptable. “How dare they insult like this! Priyanka Vadra, KC Venugopal where are you? Open your mouth on this,” he posted on X. BJP Kerala president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said while the Congress talked of Bharat Jodo and the Constitution, its politics was about dividing people using caste, geography, religion, language.

The Kerala BJP unit in a post on X said Keralites were being “treated this way today because years of Congress & Communist govt’s failed governance and zero job creation pushed people out of their own state - only to face insult in others.”

Siddaramaiah-Shivakumar duo have been on the defensive after last week’s razing of two encroachments at Kogilu in North Bengaluru by mostly Muslim immigrants invited criticism from the Kerala CM, who wondered if it was fair for the Congress to use “bulldozers.” As the two leaders tried to defend, AICC disapproved of the action, calling for adequate rehabilitation measures.

Two of AICC’s top leaders KC Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra are MPs from Kerala.