Wayanad/Bengaluru: The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government’s disclosure about having spent Rs 10 crore on rehabilitation efforts in landslide-affected regions of Kerala, along with a supplementary demand in the Assembly for rehabilitation of 100 families from neighbouring Wayanad has triggered a political row in Karnataka.
The Opposition in the state has accused the Siddaramaiah-led government of spending Karnataka’s money to shore up the Gandhi family’s political fortune in Kerala.
BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra Thursday said that Siddaramaiah was displaying double standards.
“… was it not you who campaigned in Delhi shouting ‘My Tax, My Right’, insisting Karnataka’s money must not leave the State? Yet today, you divert ₹10 Cr of Kannadigas’ tax money to Wayanad in Kerala, just because it’s @priyankagandhi constituency…,” he wrote in a post on X.
CM @siddaramaiah avare, was it not you who campaigned in Delhi shouting “My Tax, My Right”, insisting Karnataka’s money must not leave the State? Yet today, you divert ₹10 Cr of Kannadigas’ tax money to Wayanad in Kerala, just because it’s @priyankagandhi constituency.
When our… pic.twitter.com/7vAR2PXfap
— Vijayendra Yediyurappa (@BYVijayendra) August 21, 2025
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is the Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad, the district in Kerala that borders Karnataka. The parliamentary constituency was previously represented by her brother Rahul Gandhi, the Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition who is now the representative of Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli in the Lower House.
Vijayendra also reiterated how the Siddaramaiah government had rushed to provide Rs 15 lakh to the victim of an elephant attack in Wayanad.
“When our farmers reel under crop loss, when MLAs don’t even get basic grants to lay foundation stones, when schools & colleges lack infrastructure – you claim there is no money. But to please your high command, you generously gift crores outside Karnataka,” he said.
Adding, This is not compassion, it is servitude … Please stop squandering our disaster fund to please your high command. Karnataka’s money belongs to Kannadigas, not to the Gandhi family’s political fortunes.”
In February last year, one Ajeesh Joseph Panachiyil was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Wayanad. The 47-year-old farmer was killed by a radio-collared elephant, Belur Makhna, near his home in Mananthavady.
The issue triggered a political slugfest after the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka rushed to announce a Rs 15 lakh compensation for the family as it was an ‘elephant from Karnataka’ that trampled Ajeesh.
The tragedy that befell the family was soon be overshadowed by the politics around it with the Opposition in Karnataka alleging that the ruling Congress was exceeding state boundaries to comply with the directives of Rahul Gandhi, who was then the Member of Parliament for Wayanad.
“They said they would give the money, but we later heard that the decision created controversy there,” Sheeba, Ajeesh’s wife, had told ThePrint.
The family was assured a government job and Rs 10 lakh as financial aid by the Kerala government but only the monetary compensation has come through so far. The Rs 15 lakh announced by Karnataka was never paid.
Eshwar Khandre, Karnataka’s minister for forest and ecology, said last week that no compensation was paid to anyone outside the state. “We have not given a single paisa as expected gratia to the Kerala family,” Khandre said in the Legislative Council. He was replying to a query by a member of the Opposition on the increase in instances of man-animal conflict, besides details of those impacted and compensation paid by the government.
Also Read: Siddaramaiah under fire for offer to rehabilitate Wayanad landslide victims. ‘Karnataka or Gandhis?’
‘Nothing called Karnataka elephant or Kerala elephant’
Karnataka and Kerala have had a complex relationship over the years when it comes to management of forest areas and wildlife.
The two sides locked horns over the ban on night traffic on NH-766 as it cuts through the ecologically sensitive Bandipur reserve forest.
Kerala has been trying to pressure Karnataka to reverse the night traffic ban. When the Congress came to power in Karnataka, it was expected that the party would soften its stand on the ban as Wayanad was then represented by the ‘Gandhis’.
In the 2024 Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll, Karnataka Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar had even hinted at possible relaxation of the ban to help Priyanka Gandhi’s maiden electoral fight.
“If you see the entire forest area, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, all three states have contiguous forests and no boundaries and the elephants, and even tigers, keep on migrating,” said a senior Karnataka government official, requesting anonymity. Adding, “There is nothing called Karnataka elephant or Kerala elephant.”
In response to the Wayanad incident, Karnataka launched Operation Belur Makhna, deploying 200 forest guards, range officers, veterinarians, and four trained elephants. However, the animal evaded capture and crossed back into Karnataka’s forests after nearly two weeks.
Meanwhile, Sheeba’s family is still completing the paperwork for her promised government job, which remains pending.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Explained with maps: How topography, human density led to devastation in Kerala’s Wayanad