A demolition drive carried out by civic authorities in north Bengaluru has triggered a sharp political row, drawing reactions from across states and exposing differences within the Congress party over the handling of encroachments and humanitarian concerns.
In the early hours of 20 December 2025, the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) demolished between 200 and 400 illegal structures in Fakir Colony and Wasim Layout in Kogilu, near Yelahanka. The settlements were located on around 15 acres of government gomala and waste dump land in Survey No. 99, which officials said had been encroached upon over the years.
The demolitions, carried out around 4 am, left nearly 3,000 people homeless, with reports indicating that most of the affected families belonged to the Muslim Fakir community and included migrant workers from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Residents alleged that the action was taken without adequate prior notice. Authorities, however, maintained that the land was unsafe for habitation, having earlier functioned as a quarry and later used as a dumping site, and that multiple notices had been issued earlier. Temporary electricity connections granted during 2017–18, officials said, did not confer legal rights over the land.
The issue escalated into a political controversy after Pinarayi Vijayan criticised the demolition on 25 December 2025, describing it as “bulldozer raj against minorities.” In a post on social media, Vijayan alleged that “anti-minority politics” associated with the Sangh Parivar was being carried out under a Congress government in Karnataka and offered “all possible help” to those displaced. CPI(M) MP A A Rahim also visited the site and termed the action anti-minority.
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”. Sadly, the Sangh Parivar’s anti-minority politics is now being executed under a Congress Government in…
— Pinarayi Vijayan (@pinarayivijayan) December 26, 2025
On 26 December 2025, the Congress high command stepped in. AICC General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal said he had spoken to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, conveying the party’s “serious concern” over the manner in which the demolition was conducted. Venugopal said such actions should have been undertaken with “greater caution, sensitivity and compassion,” adding that assurances had been given regarding engagement with affected families, grievance redressal, and rehabilitation.
Spoke to Karnataka CM @siddaramaiah and DCM @DKShivakumar regarding the demolition of unauthorised constructions in Kogilu village, Bengaluru.
Conveyed the AICC’s serious concern that such actions should have been undertaken with far greater caution, sensitivity, and…
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) December 27, 2025
The intervention highlighted an apparent divergence between the Congress leadership at the Centre and the party’s Karnataka government. While the high command emphasised humanitarian considerations, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar defended the demolition, stating that the structures were illegal, located on land earmarked for garbage dumping, and posed serious safety risks. Shivakumar also responded to Vijayan’s remarks, saying the Kerala Chief Minister did not have accurate information about the site and asserting that unauthorised slums would not be allowed to come up across Bengaluru.
The BJP seized on the controversy, accusing the Congress of hypocrisy and alleging that the party’s response was driven by appeasement politics. Party leaders questioned why similar concern was not shown in other encroachment drives and criticised what they described as conflicting signals from the Congress leadership.
Source: Free Press Journal
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