Kerala CPI(M) uses Bengaluru “anti-Muslim” demolition drive to ideologically equate Congress with Sangh Parivar

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has sought to draw an ideological equivalence between the Congress and the Sangh Parivar by comparing the Karnataka Government’s demolition drive targeting indigent Muslim colonies near Yelahanka in Bengaluru with similar “bulldozer operations” against marginalised minorities in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled North Indian States. 

The CPI(M)’s campaign against the Karnataka Government’s demolition drive seeks to undermine the Congress’s standing among Muslims in Kerala, which arguably contributed significantly to the United Democratic Front (UDF)’s good showing in the local body polls. 

An insider said the CPI(M) also seeks to put the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a key UDF ally, in a spot on the Congress’s “anti-Muslim bulldozer raj” in Karnataka.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched a broadside against the United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition last week, expressing shock and pain at a Congress government replicating the BJP model of “bulldozer raj” in neighbouring Karnataka.

Notably, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Sivakumar dismissed Mr. Vijayan’s concern, attributing it to the former’s lack of awareness of the ground reality in Bengaluru.

However, AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he spoke to Mr. Shivakumar and conveyed the 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.

The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) national president, M.A. Rahim, who led a fact-finding mission to the demolition site, told reporters on Sunday (December 28, 2025) that the Left youth organisation would screen the aftermath of the demolition of Fakeer Colony and Waseem Layout across Kerala and organise State-wide protest meetings. 

“The short film would tell the story of Shravani, a young mother nearing her term, shivering in the cold under a sheet of tarpaulin beside her demolished home. It would also tell the story of Syed Mastan, an ageing street singer who lost his home days before his son Said Mubarak’s marriage on January 2,” he added. 

Mr. Rahim said the campaign would highlight Sanjay Gandhi’s “bulldozer raj” against Muslims during the Emergency and Mr. Shivakumar’s “brazen admiration for the RSS anthem (Gana Geetham), which he rendered in the Karnataka Assembly.