Overview
- The Udupi District Congress president filed a complaint and Udupi Town Police registered an FIR on Wednesday after BJP MLA Yashpal Suvarna’s comments at a public programme on Tuesday.
- The FIR cites multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for abetment, provocation to riot, promoting enmity, criminal intimidation, intentional insult and public mischief.
- Congress leaders have handed over video recordings to investigators and demanded strict legal action while criticising BJP legislators who were present but did not condemn the remarks.
- Reportedly Suvarna said Rahul Gandhi was ‘under the influence of drugs’ and warned that Gandhi’s family would be ‘destroyed’ in a manner he likened to the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition, comments that went viral on social media.
- The episode has sharpened partisan confrontation and revived scrutiny of Suvarna’s past inflammatory conduct, notably his role in the 2021–22 hijab row, which could shape how police and political leaders handle the probe.