BENGALURU: The Congress government in the state is treading cautiously after the eviction of 250 families, mostly Muslim, living illegally on government land at Kogilu in Bengaluru invited a nudge from the party high command. The party top brass is wary of the fallout the move will have on its prospects in the Kerala Assembly elections where it is fighting its INDIA bloc partner --- LDF, led by CPM.
Days after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of the CPM commented that Uttar Pradesh’s “Bulldozer Raj” has arrived in Karnataka, AICC General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal intervened and suggested to the state leaders that the drive could have been undertaken with greater caution. Now, the Siddaramaiah government is making efforts to put the lid on the issue by rehabilitating the evicted.
It is said that Venugopal is eyeing the Kerala chief minister’s post if the Congress-led LDF wrests power in the Assembly polls, expected to in April/May, 2026. Incidentally, Siddaramaiah is landing in Thiruvananthapuram late on Tuesday evening to take part in the 93rd Sivagiri pilgrimage meeting at Sivagiri Mutt, Varkala, on Wednesday, where he is likely to meet Venugopal.
Both Siddaramaiah and DCM DK Shivakumar, who were defending the demolition drive, mellowed their tone after Venugopal’s intervention.
They promptly followed the party line with Shivakumar even stating that Venugopal has the power to advise the state government. Their moves also assume significance as the high command is yet to decide on leadership change in Karnataka.
Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan and Social Welfare Minister Dr HC Mahadevappa, from the Siddaramaiah camp, attacked Vijayan for interfering in the state issue. Zameer, a Muslim strongman, advised Vijayan to build houses for the “victims” if he is so concerned.
Earlier, a delegation including CPIM leaders -- Kerala MP AA Rahim and former minister KT Jaleel -- visited Kogilu and came down heavily on the Congress government, likening its act to UP’s “bulldozer raj”. It is highly likely that CPM, which documented the agony of the “victims”, plans to play it against Congress during campaigning for the Kerala Assembly polls.
However, Congress got its other ally, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), on its side as its leader PK Kunhalikutty, who visited the area on Sunday, said the demolition drive should not be equated with that of Uttar Pradesh.
The state BJP, in the meantime, criticised the government for taking policy decisions to allegedly appease Muslims keeping in mind the Kerala polls and also to please party’s central leaders, including Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is Wayanad MP.
Sources said Congress leaders in Karnataka do not want to hand the demolition issue on a platter to Vijayan to target Venugopal and Congress. “The bulldozing of Faqir Colony and Waseem Layout in Bengaluru, uprooting Muslim families who have lived there for years, exposes the brutal normalisation of “bulldozer raj”,” the Kerala CM had stated on X.
Within no time, Venugopal entered the scene to control the damage. He spoke to Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, and conveyed AICC’s “serious concern that such actions should have been undertaken with far greater caution, sensitivity, and compassion, keeping the human impact at the centre”.
Kerala is a key state for Congress as it has given political moorings to the Sonia Gandhi family, as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was elected from Wayanad and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra succeeded him as MP there. In 2024, the Karnataka government disbursed Rs 15 lakh compensation to the kin of a man from Wayanad killed by an elephant translocated to Kerala. The Siddaramaiah government had also granted Rs 10 crore to build 100 houses for the flood victims in Wayanad.
“After Congress emerged victorious in the local body polls, CPIM is on a weak footing in Kerala ahead of the Assembly polls. It is copying the BJP script to portray Congress as anti-Muslim. CPM and BJP have now become ‘bhai-bhai’ as the Pinarayi government has been implementing all the signature programmes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said AICC secretary, Kerala in-charge, PV Mohan.