Bengaluru, September 25, 2026: Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has drawn criticism over a remark in the Assembly suggesting that around a dozen MLAs who moved to Bengaluru had married twice. BJP leaders have asked him to identify the legislators he was referring to, saying the comment has raised suspicion about others who relocated to the city.
Shivakumar made the comment on Thursday while discussing Bengaluru’s growing population. He said that people who move to the city often choose to remain there, including legislators from other parts of Karnataka. He then claimed that about a dozen such MLAs had married twice and said he could provide examples based on his decades in politics.
The chief minister suggested he could name legislators from districts including Dharwad and Dakshina Kannada, but did not identify anyone in the Assembly. His allegation therefore remains unsubstantiated in the account of the exchange. The remark shifted attention from the discussion about Bengaluru’s growth to questions about whom he meant and why he raised their personal lives on the floor of the House.
Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka called the comment unnecessary and urged Shivakumar to disclose the names. Ashoka argued that leaving the legislators unidentified had cast suspicion on every MLA who had moved to Bengaluru from another part of Karnataka.
Senior BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar also objected, saying the remark had created “unhealthy curiosity.” Even if it was intended as a joke, he said, a claim about legislators’ marriages was inappropriate during Assembly proceedings. Kumar, too, asked Shivakumar to say whom he was referring to.
The dispute now centres on the chief minister’s offer to provide a list. Until names or supporting details are made public, the claim concerns unidentified legislators, while the opposition’s criticism is directed at the effect of making it in the Assembly. Shivakumar’s original point was that Bengaluru continues to attract people who settle there permanently; the exchange has instead become a political row over his comments about MLAs’ private lives.
