Activists working with Bengaluru's homeless and slum residents have condemned the politicisation of the Kogilu Layout home demolitions. A. Narasimha Murthy, convenor of Slum Janandolana, Karnataka, expressed shock that the issue was turned into a ‘Hindu-Muslim’ and ‘Kannada-migrant’ debate. He said, "It is the poor and homeless, who, left with no option but to put up shacks in landfill land, were ruthlessly driven out from there as well. Anything else is a diversion from this core issue." Murthy added the politics hurt the welfare and rights of those who lost houses. The promised government allotment of flats has faced delays and legal challenges, with PILs filed against it. The BJP has accused the Congress of ‘minority appeasement’ and repeatedly called residents ‘Bangladeshis’ without proof. A complaint was filed against Leader of Opposition R. Ashok by a city advocate at the Karnataka State Minorities Commission over this. However, a senior BJP leader blamed Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan for communalising the issue first, accusing Congress of targeting minorities to win Muslim votes in Kerala. Isaac Amruthraj, president of Slum Janara Sanghatane, highlighted the brutal no-notice demolition and said homelessness is widespread. Bengaluru has about 570 notified slums and 130 to 140 unnotified ones like Kogilu. Migrant labourers flood the city, but governments have failed to meet housing needs. Housing Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan said there are 98,487 homeless in Bengaluru Urban district out of 37.48 lakh in Karnataka. Murthy revealed 10,000 to 15,000 families live in unnotified slums and face monthly rackets of ₹1,000 to ₹1,500 by politically linked local strongmen. He added, "We have made repeated representations to the State government, the latest five months ago, appealing to them to formulate a policy to address this issue, to no avail."