The close political battle between the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala seems to have spilled over to Karnataka ahead of the assembly polls in Kerala, expected to be held in April/ May 2026. The statements of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal over the demolition of over 150 “illegal” structures in Kogilu Layout in Bengaluru are being attributed to their political agenda ahead of the elections.
Mr. Venugopal’s statement on Saturday criticising the demolition, which seems to have made Congress leaders in Karnataka embarrassed, came close after Mr. Vijayan termed the demolition in Faqir Colony and Waseem Layout as “brutal normalisation of bulldozer raj”. He said, “Sadly, the Sangha Parivar’s anti minority politics is now being executed under a Congress government in Karnataka”.
On the backfoot
While Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar hit back at Mr. Vijayan for “unnecessary interference without an understanding of the facts,” the central Congress leader, in contrast, expressed “AICC’s serious concern”. This has put the Karnataka Congress leaders on the backfoot.
