'Udta Bengaluru': BJP, Congress spar as Kollywood actress, 85 others test positive for drugs at rave party — 10 points

A day after the Bengaluru Police busted a rave party where at least 86 of the 103 attendees tested positive for drugs, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday hit out at the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka for the alleged "deteriorating law and order situation" in the state. The saffron party termed the Silicon City "Udta Bengaluru" and alleged that the city is becoming the "adda" for narcotic substances and rave parties.

"Udta Bengaluru" has been used in reference to the 2016 Bollywood movie "Udta Punjab", which highlighted drug abuse by youth in Punjab.

However, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said the opposition's use of the term Bengaluru was not right and that the BJP should not cast aspersions.

Also read: Bengaluru rave party: 86 test positive for drugs, cops seize MDMA, cocaine, ganja

Here are the top 10 updates on Bengaluru's rave party:

• The Bengaluru Police busted a rave party at a farmhouse, which was allegedly attended by 103 people – 73 men and 30 women. Of them, 86 individuals, including a Telugu film actress, tested positive for narcotics, police said, citing medical tests. The event was organised under the pretext of a birthday party. 
• In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the BJP alleged that since the Congress government came to power in Karnataka, "immoral gatherings" were happening everywhere in Bengaluru.

Also read: Three prominent Bengaluru hotels including The Ottera receive bomb threat emails, sparking panic

• "The law and order situation has deteriorated, 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," BJP Karnataka said in a post 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 shared by the BJP on 'X', it termed the capital city as "Udta Bengaluru". It alleged that "Silicon City is becoming an "adda" (hub) for narcotic substances and rave parties are rampant."

Also read: Thane news: At least 95 detained after raid at rave party, drugs seized

• Responding to the allegations levelled by the BJP, Parameshwara said the state government is hard on this (drug menace) and will not spare anybody. "We are very hard on this. We don't spare anybody and we have already declared, you know, to see that Karnataka is free from all these drugs and we are doing it. Hundreds of crores of drugs have been seized. We have burnt it and we are continuously monitoring it.
• "Many of the foreign students have been deported and we are continuously monitoring their whereabouts and actions and we don't spare anybody," he told reporters.
• Minister Parameshwara further said that the Opposition could tell the government if it had failed in its fight against drugs, but they should not cast aspersions. "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. Let them tell us if we have failed in our fight against drugs. But they should not cast aspersions," he added.

Also read: Elvish Yadav rave party case: Forensics find cobra, krait venom in samples from scene; YouTuber denies allegations

• Police seized MDMA (Ecstasy) pills, MDMA crystals, hydro cannabis, cocaine, high-end cars, and DJ equipment, including sound and lighting worth ₹1.5 crore during the raid at the farmhouse near Electronics City in the wee hours of May 19.
• After the raid, police collected the blood samples of the participants in a private hospital, which revealed that 59 men and 27 women tested positive for narcotics.
• "Most of the people who attended the party were consuming drugs. The Central Crime Branch will issue notices to those who tested positive," news agency PTI reported, citing a police source.