Stage Set For Another Congress-RSS Row As Karnataka Plans Law On Public Spaces

The Karnataka government is planning to build a legal framework to regulate the use of school and college campuses for private programmes and other organised activities. The state cabinet is likely to discuss the proposed law, which could trigger another round of friction between the Congress government and the BJP's ideological mentor, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The proposed law, titled Karnataka State Public Places and Access Regulation Bill, 2026 will strengthen the state government's argument for regulating the use of public spaces for organised events, sources said.

This development comes a month after the state government made it a must for the RSS to take prior permission if it wanted to hold a march in the state. The RSS had then filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court against the government's stand on the RSS' plan to hold a march in northern Karnataka's Chittapur.

Last month, Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge categorically made it clear that no march would be allowed without taking permission. He said that in 2025 in Chittapur, the RSS' demand for a march on a certain route had other conditions like a particular time and date.

Kharge said that if permission is needed even for a small Ganesh pandal to be erected during Ganesh Chaturthi, everybody else needs to apply for it.

"As long as I'm there, it is required," Kharge said in response to a question from reporters on July 6 about whether permission from the Home Department was compulsory to hold a route march in the state.

"It (permission) is required because, as we (the government) submitted to the high court following the stampede incident (outside Chinnaswamy stadium during RCB IPL victory celebration in 2025) the criterion for seeking permission for mega events applies. Accordingly, let them seek permission; whether to grant it or not is left to us," he said, adding the administration would decide based on the local situation.

The BJP had taken a swipe at Kharge, saying all he saw was the RSS and not critical issues facing the state like crumbling infrastructure.

"There are infrastructure issues, including schools and hostels in his own constituency of Chittapur; there are no proper buses or roads. He has not been able to hold a Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) meeting properly," BJP MLC N Ravi Kumar had said, adding the RSS had always held its events and marches after taking permission from the police.