Don’t interfere in our state’s affairs: Shivakumar tells Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

Bengaluru, Dec 27 (PTI) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday advised Kerala Chief Minister not to interfere in Karnataka’s affairs with regard to an anti-encroachment drive in North Bengaluru.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday strongly criticised the reported demolition of Muslim residential areas in Karnataka's capital, calling the action shocking and painful.

In a Facebook post, Vijayan referred to the reported bulldozing of Fakir Colony and Waseem Layout, where Muslim families had been living for many years.

“It is all a political statement. Without knowing the facts, Pinarayi should not interfere in our state’s affairs. These are all political gimmicks at the time of the elections,” Shivakumar, who is also Congress state president, told reporters here.

He said it was unfortunate that senior leaders like Pinarayi Vijayan commented on the matter without knowing the facts of the issues in Bengaluru.

“Some people had encroached. It’s a waste dump site. It was a quarry pit. It is a very dangerous place. A lot of health hazard is there and they (slum dwellers) illegally tried to occupy. It’s land grabbing. Our government and the local MLA said this is very dangerous,” the Deputy CM said.

He emphasised that the Congress government in Karnataka knows humanity and will give an alternative space as per the rules to the eligible people. According to him, the slum dwellers came and captured the land overnight. Barring a few, most of the encroachers are outsiders.

Asking Vijayan not to interfere in such affairs, Shivakumar said the Congress government knows Bengaluru well, and it does not want to entertain the slum created by land mafias.

“We tried to protect our land, and we are ready to give houses to those who are eligible, under the Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojana. Our Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and I have directed officers to submit a report, which they did. Our leaders from Kerala have also spoken to me,” the Deputy CM said.

He clarified that no bulldozers were used in it. Instead, the government tried to protect the public place, which is in the heart of the City. “We can’t encourage slums like this. It is a site meant for waste management,” Shivakumar said.

He added that he would give a reply to the Kerala Chief Minister and would send him and also to the Congress leaders a report. According to him, slum clearance was a routine exercise.

“It is a routine thing that takes place in Bengaluru. You know that Bengaluru is not like Mumbai or any other city. We don’t have many slums in Bengaluru, and we don’t want to create slums in Bengaluru,” he underlined.

Shivakumar said the place where the slum had come up falls under the Byatarayanapura Assembly segment, represented by the Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda.

The Deputy CM said Gowda is a very learned senior leader of the Congress party and the government, who was aware of the fact, and he was the one who directed officers not to allow any land grab attempts.

“No one should come and put up huts there. It is not a question of minorities or other people. We don’t want to hurt anyone but if anyone wants land and are eligible, we will definitely give houses,” Shivakumar explained. He also said that the Congress government has planned lakhs of houses in the city.

“Our CM and our Housing Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan are in talks with the officers to find out how to rehabilitate them. Only genuine will be rehabilitated, not those who try to occupy government land without any reason,” the Congress state chief said.

Shivakumar said the land in question was notified nine years ago for solid waste management, where people built slums in the quarry pit overnight.

In his post, the Kerala Chief Minister said the incident reflected a form of minority-targeting politics seen earlier in North India and warned that such practices were now spreading to the South.

He alleged that entire families were forced out of their homes in harsh winter conditions and pushed onto the streets, leaving them with no choice but to flee.

Vijayan expressed surprise that what he described as "bulldozer justice" was carried out under a Congress-led government in Karnataka. PTI GMS GMS ADB