Karnataka's Congress government faced a year of political challenges in 2025, marked by an internal leadership tussle between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, fueling opposition BJP's criticism. Despite assurances of stability, some legislators linked to Shivakumar openly discussed leadership changes. The state was also marred by a deadly stampede outside M. Chinnaswamy Stadium during IPL celebrations, resulting in eleven deaths and exposing crowd management failures. These events occurred amidst other developments, including international attention on writer Banu Mushtaq.