A political slugfest erupted in Karnataka when the opposition BJP took a dig at the Congress government and claimed that Bengaluru had become 'Udta Bengaluru', in reference to the 2016 Bollywood film, 'Udta Punjab', which highlighted drug abuse by youth in the northern state.
The BJP accused the Congress government of 'deteriorating law and order situation' in Bengaluru and alleged that the city was becoming the hub for narcotic substances and rave parties. This came after Bengaluru Police recently busted a rave party at a farmhouse in the city and 86 people, including a Telugu actor, tested positive for drug consumption.
"Law and order has deteriorated and government chaos has been exposed. After the Congress government came to power, immoral gatherings are happening everywhere in Bengaluru. Silicon City is now full of drugs, cannabis drug rave parties," the Karnataka BJP unit tweeted in Kannada.
The BJP also used a poster featuring Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar with the hashtags #BadBengaluru and #CongressFailsKarnataka to hit out at the state government. In the poster, the party termed the Silicon City as 'Udta Bengaluru' and claimed that the "Silicon City was becoming an 'adda' (hub) for narcotic substances and rave parties are rampant".
A total of 103 people participated in the rave party, which was held under the pretext of a birthday party. The participants included 73 men and 30 women.
Responding to BJP's 'Udta Bengaluru' jibe, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said the government was making serious efforts to crackdown on drugs and hit back at the BJP, saying it should not "cast such aspersions".
"We are very hard on this. We don't spare anybody. Hundreds of crore of drugs have been seized and burnt. We are continuously monitoring it. Many foreign students have been deported. I don't think it is right on the part of the Opposition to say Bengaluru is becoming 'Udta Bengaluru'. They should not talk about such things. They should not cast such aspersions," he told reporters.
The police seized 14.40 grams of MDMA pills, 1.16 grams of MDMA crystals, six grams of hydro cannabis, five grams of cocaine, a Rs 500 denomination note coated with cocaine, six grams of hydro ganja, five mobile phones, two vehicles: a Volkswagen and a Land Rover, and DJ equipment, including sound and lighting systems worth Rs 1.5 crore, from the rave party.
The blood samples of 59 men who attended the party tested positive for drugs while the blood samples of 27 women tested positive.
