In a sharp escalation of political rhetoric, ahead of the 2026 Kerala assembly elections, the CPI(M) has launched a fresh offensive against the Congress, accusing it of adopting "bulldozer raj" tactics in the states it governs.
Contrasting this with Kerala’s "humane, pro-poor" land model, the party claimed Congress is increasingly mirroring BJP's demolition strategies.
In a strongly worded statement, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed concern over the reports of demolitions in Telangana, alleging that hundreds of poor families had been rendered homeless.
Bulldozer Raj in Telangana
The Chief Minister said that after Karnataka, “bulldozer raj” has now unfolded in Telangana as well. He referred to the demolition of around 700 houses in Velugumatla village of Khammam district, built on Bhoodan land, which were razed in the presence of police. According to the statement, nearly 3,000 people possessing identification documents were made homeless in the early hours of February 25, without any prior notice by the Congress government.
Vijayan noted that the demolished houses were located in Vinoba Nagar and had originally been allotted to landless families during the Bhoodan movement led by Vinoba Bhave. He said it was surprising that the Congress in Telangana could not even accept the limited objectives of the Bhoodan movement, which sought to provide land to the landless.
'Inhuman actions'
Referring to Karnataka, he said the victims of the Yelahanka demolitions in Bengaluru were still struggling to survive on the streets.
Two months ago, more than 150 families were left homeless after government authorities carried out a demolition drive at Kogilu Layout in Yelahanka , stating that the houses encroached government land earmarked for solid waste management projects.
In his statement, Vijayan asked, “How can the Congress lead and execute such inhuman actions?” The Congress leadership in Kerala, which he said claims to represent progressive values, must respond to these developments. Further, he added that it was the responsibility of the Congress, whose “massive advertisements” of the Telangana government fill media space in Kerala, to clarify its position.
Contrast to Kerala
Contrasting Kerala’s approach with Telangana’s, the Chief Minister noted that while Kerala was rebuilding home and creating a new rehabilitation model for disaster victims, the Telangana government is allegedly evicting residents, including title-holders, by branding their documents as "fake."
He pointed out that even as the Kerala government was distributing land titles to those without pattas and transforming them into rightful landowners, evictions were taking place in Telangana. According to him, Congress governments were increasingly proving themselves to be replicas of North Indian BJP regimes in their approach to displacement and demolition.
CPI(M)'s political offensive
Vijayan accused the Congress of practising a politics of eviction and dispossession.
The incidents in Yelahanka and Khammam are clear examples of how the party treats ordinary people wherever it comes to power, he pointed out. The Kerala CM also referred to what he described as unfulfilled promises in Kerala to build hundreds of houses for victims of the Mundakkai–Chooralmala disaster, alleging that the Congress had backtracked on its assurances.
The statement marks yet another escalation in the CPI(M)’s political offensive against the Congress, positioning Kerala’s land redistribution and rehabilitation measures as an alternative model to what it calls coercive demolition drives in Congress-ruled states.
