Bengaluru: The LDF-UDF war to woo minorities for the forthcoming general elections to Kerala Legislative Assembly elections due in April 2026 has forced Karnataka government to allot 180 houses to the illegal occupants at Kogilu in Bengaluru, where the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) had demolished their unauthorised construction on the government land.
After the Kerala Chief Minister Piranayi Vijayan, after sending his state Rajya Sabha MP to the spot compared the government action to `Buldozer Justice' by the Uttar Pradesh government, AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal spoke to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, forcing him to allot the encroachers alternative houses.
Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan said that 180 alternative houses would be allotted at Byappanahalli to those who lost their houses at Kogilu layout and for remaining people, the government would allot alternative lands
Meanwhile, the government decision has evoked sharp reaction from opposition BJP, who have questioned whether K C Venugopal was super chief minister of Karnataka and wanted Siddaramaiah to clarify if the Karnataka government was being governed from Delhi or Kerala. The only comfort for Karnataka Congress came through Kerala Indian Union Muslim League leader P K Kunhalikutty, who has criticised Pirinayi Vijayan for comparing Karnataka government action to `Buldozer Justice'.
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Kunhalikutty said that he had spoken to Karnataka Chief Minister, who had assured to help the land losers. ``It is not right on the part of Kerala Chief Minister to issue such statements just because there is a Congress government in Karnataka. It is not true that only minority community people have lost houses, the victims include other religious faiths also,'' he said.
The saga started after Dec 20, when GBA demolished over 200 houses built on two illegal layouts -- Fakir Colony and Wasim layout. The land was earmarked for the dumping yard of the Solid Waste Management division of the GBA. Meanwhile, after losing minority votes in the Kerala local body elections, the Kerala government compared demolition to the `Buldozer Justice' against the minorities followed by the Uttar Pradesh government.
Though Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar defended the government action and assured to allot alternative houses to those who have proper documentation of residence in Karnataka, in a knee jerk reaction, K C Venugopal spoke to the Chief Minister, seeking rehabilitation of all the people who lost land in the demolition drive. He took to his X-handle and posted:
``Conveyed the AICC's serious concern that such actions should have been undertaken with far greater caution, sensitivity and compassion, keeping human impact at the centre. They have assured that they will personally engage with the affected families, put in place an appropriate mechanism for addressing grievances, and ensure rehabilitation and relief for those impacted.''
The post evoked sharp reaction from the BJP, questioning the Karnataka Congress as to who was running the state.
Opposition leader R Ashok questioned the authority of K C Venugopal to intervene in the administration of Karnataka. ``Is he a super CM? or does the Congress high command believe elected state governments function on Delhi diktats?'' Ashok questioned.
BJP State General Secretary Ravi Kumar asked why Congress government has not shown the same interest of allotting 180 houses to illegal encroachers, during other demolition drives where the victims belong to non-minority communities?
He recalled an earlier incident where the Karnataka government paid â‚ą 5 lakh compensation to an elephant attack victim at Wayanad Parliament Constituency represented by Priyanka Gandhi. The Karnataka government took the decision even before the Kerala government could react and the move had evoked a lot of criticism.
