Karnataka Elections 2023: BJP's Yashpal Suvarna, one of the most hardline voices during the Hijab row, comfortably wins from Udupi!

Yashpal Suvarna of the Bhartiya Janata Party was declared the winner from the Udupi constituency of the Karnataka Assembly. He was fighting against Prasadraj Kanchan of the Congress and the margin between the two was 32,776 votes. While Suvarna bagged 97,079 votes, Congress candidate Prasadraj Kanchan received 64,303 votes.

 

 

 

Yashpal Suvarna was one of the most hardline voices during the hijab controversy which erupted in January 2022 in Karnataka’s Udupi. He had received a ticket from the sensitive Udupi Assembly constituency. He was contesting Assembly elections for the first time and replaced sitting BJP MLA Raghpathi Bhat.

 

Notably, the Udupi Assembly is a part of the Udupi Chikmagalur Lok Sabha constituency, which includes regions like Kundapura, Kapu, Karkala, Sringeri, Mudigere, and Chikmagalur along with Udupi.

 

 

Yashpal Suvarna is the vice-president of the Development Committee of Udupi Government PU Girls’ College.For the past 13 years, Suvarna has also been the president of the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts’ Cooperative Fish Marketing Federation. He was associated with the students’ wing of the BJP – Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad – which was followed by his stint in Bajrang Dal.

 

Earlier, Suvarna, who is a Mogaveera, which is an OBC group, said that in the district, the party is more important that an individual, and everyone will play a role in letting the party win.

 

 

 

The BJP leader was at the center of the Karnataka hijab controversy and was one of the prominent anti-hijab voices in the state. When he was named as a candidate for BJP from Udupi, Yashpal accused PFI of causing hijab controversy. He had said, "Udupi is a peace-loving and happy place. PFI, KFD (Karnataka Forum for Dignity), and Campus Front of India (CFI) created the issue because they did not want girl children to be educated. These anti-national, anti-social elements did not want poor Hindu students to receive a good education. They wanted to divert the attention of the economically poor students at government PU college and kindled the hijab issue."

 

Further, he said, "People from across the world are looking to Narendra Modi as a leader, and we are proud to have him as our leader. We will show people how we will deliver as Modi has. I want to tell the people that our region is not just about being a Hindutva laboratory, but a laboratory of development and nationalism as well."

 

Speaking on the hijab issue, he said, "The issue was fake. There is a difference between issues created, and issues started. The hijab issue was created. If people were affected, why are Muslim families sending their daughters to college even today? That means 90 percent of Muslim girls are against hijab, against their system, and want to be free birds, lead a normal life, and not be shackled by a hijab."

 

Yashpal had expressed his dismay over the six girls approaching court over the hijab issue. He had said, "The six girls who call themselves victims are so young they do not know the law of the land. They do not have voting rights, yet they are going to the courts to file a petition. This shows there is a strong force instigating them, which I call the ‘anti-social activity associations."

 

 

A social media post went viral in which "Sar Tan Se Juda" threats were received by Yashpal Suvarna. He had said at the time that receiving such messages and calls through social media was very common in public life and refused to take them seriously. He said, "When we work for the nation, anti-national organisations or traitors issue such threats from abroad. I will not take it seriously. It is a part of life. We are doing our work within the limits of the Constitution. An Instagram post about me and Pramod Muthalik does not make any difference. We will not take back our steps."

 

"I am not bothered about the Instagram post. However, I want to know who are the local people behind the issue. We will find them," Yashpal Suvarna further stated.