E-Paper
‘Is KC Venugopal super CM?’ Congress vs BJP over Bengaluru demolitions
Karnataka's LoP said that Karnataka is not governed by AICC General Secretary but a constitutionally elected government.
The demolition of unauthorised constructions in Karnataka's capital Bengaluru has whirlpooled into a political storm involving not just the state government, but the Congress high command, opposition BJP, and even the government of neighbouring Kerala.
Karnataka assembly's Leader of Opposition (LoP) and BJP leader R Ashoka accused Congress' general secretary K C Venugopal of intervening in the state's administration, saying that the state deserves deserves respect, autonomy, and honest governance, and not high-command "theatrics", reported news agency PTI.
Ashoka's remarks come after Venugopal said on Saturday that he spoke to Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar regarding the demolition of unauthorised constructions in Kogilu village in Bengaluru.
“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,” he wrote on X.
Venugopal's remarks come in the wake of Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan's criticism of the demolitions in Bengaluru, who called it the entry of “North Indian model of “bulldozer justice”” into South India which left an entire population “homeless”. Vijayan's remarks had prompted DK Shivakumar to advise him to not interfere in Karnataka's internal matters.
‘Silence there. Sermons here’
Riled over Venugopal's remarks, Ashoka asked whether he was Karnataka's “super CM”.
“Karnataka is not a colony of Rahul Gandhi and his coterie,” he said.
"Who is 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."
The BJP leader also said that Karnataka is not governed by AICC General Secretary but a constitutionally elected government and that Venugopal's move was a “blatant overreach” and an insult to federalism.
"What's more troubling is the rank hypocrisy. Has K C Venugopal ever shown the same urgency when medical and other waste from Kerala have been illegally dumped along Karnataka's borders, threatening Bandipur, forest regions, public health, and wildlife? Has he spoken up for Karnataka's environment, farmers, or border districts with the same concern and compassion," he asked, as quoted by PTI.
"Silence there. Sermons here."
He added that Karnataka's people did not vote for a “remote control government”.
(With inputs from PTI)
