The Bharatiya Janata Party has strongly opposed the Karnataka government's decision to provide housing to those evicted during a demolition drive in Kogilu, Bengaluru.
The party staged a protest near the Country Club on Bagalur Main Road under the banner 'Save Kogilu, Remove Illegal Immigrants,' which it claimed was aimed at protecting Karnataka's land.
Karnataka's land belongs to the people of the state and should be distributed only to them," senior BJP leader Ashoka said, adding that the issue had been politicised due to developments linked to Kerala politics.
"They are using our land for political gain. Shame on the Congress party, shame on Siddaramaiah. If Congress has land, let them give their own land. Congress leaders have thousands of acres across Karnataka. Why don't they give that? Why only our land?" he asked.
"This is not (Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah's land, not (Deputy CM) D.K. Shivakumar's land, not any individual's land. This belongs to the seven crore people of Karnataka. That is why we are saying: save Karnataka land," he added.
ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಬಡವರಿಗೆ ದ್ರೋಹ ಬಗೆಯುತ್ತಿರುವ ಭ್ರಷ್ಟ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಸರ್ಕಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಧಿಕ್ಕಾರ... ಧಿಕ್ಕಾರ... !
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) January 5, 2026
ಹೈಕಮಾಂಡ್ಗೆ ಮಂಡಿಯೂರಿ, ಅರ್ಹ ಫಲಾನುಭವಿಗಳಿಗೆ ವಂಚಿಸಿ, ಅಕ್ರಮ ವಲಸಿಗರಿಗೆ ಮನೆಗಳನ್ನು ನೀಡುತ್ತಿರುವ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಓಲೈಕೆ ರಾಜಕಾರಣವನ್ನು ವಿರೋಧಿಸಿ ಇಂದು ರಾಜ್ಯಾಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರಾದ ಶ್ರೀ @BYVijayendra , ಪ್ರತಿಪಕ್ಷ… pic.twitter.com/Z3tPHfhH71
BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashoka, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, along with other BJP MLAs and MLCs, participated in the protest.
Earlier, the Karnataka government's demolition drive in Fakir Colony and Waseem Layout—areas where Muslim families had been living for many years—stirred up a political storm, with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleging that the incident reflected a form of minority-targeting politics seen earlier in North India.
The Karnataka government argued that the demolition was carried out by Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited to clear encroachments for a proposed solid waste processing unit.
However, as the controversy raged in, the Congress high command stepped in, saying that such actions should have been carried out with more caution, sensitivity, and compassion, keeping the human impact at the forefront.
The BJP was of the view that a large number of illegal Bangladeshi migrants had settled in Karnataka and were receiving government benefits at the expense of genuine beneficiaries.
