In a moment that has laid bare the Congress party’s internal fault lines in the South, senior leader Shashi Tharoor has publicly defended the Karnataka government’s demolition drive in Bengaluru, triggering discomfort within his own party.

Tharoor’s remarks come amid intense backlash over the eviction of several families from Kogila Layout last month. While sections of the Congress and opposition parties have slammed the move as “bulldozer politics,” Tharoor struck a sharply different note, backing the state government’s actions as legally sound and unavoidable.

“The land belonged to the government. People were living there illegally,” Tharoor said, adding that the site was a former garbage dump where toxic waste had contaminated water, making it unsafe for habitation. Quoted by PTI, the Congress MP stressed that notices had been served in advance and that alternative arrangements were promised to the displaced residents.

In comments that have unsettled party colleagues, Tharoor also cautioned against reducing the issue to a purely emotional or class-based narrative. “I don’t see justice in projecting this politically only because the affected people are poor,” he said, asserting that the government had committed to temporary housing and permanent rehabilitation within five to six months.

The remarks have sharpened the contrast within the Congress ranks. While Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has firmly defended the demolitions as a safety necessity, criticism has poured in from within and outside the party.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan termed the drive an example of “bulldozer raj,” echoing concerns raised by several Congress leaders uncomfortable with the optics of the action.

Siddaramaiah, however, maintained that the evictions were carried out strictly in line with court directions. “It is not a place suitable for human habitation,” he clarified on X, underscoring the health risks posed by the waste-disposal site.

Tharoor, while stopping short of endorsing every aspect of the execution, insisted that legality must remain paramount. “There may be flaws in the shifting process, but a solution has been promised,” he said, adding that without having visited Karnataka, he could not offer a definitive judgement.

As the dust settles, the episode has spotlighted a growing ideological and tactical rift within the Congress in southern India — between welfare optics and administrative legality — with Tharoor’s intervention adding fresh fuel to an already volatile political debate.