Kateel's elevation reveals BJP Hindutva push

Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel’s appointment as state BJP chief points to the saffron party’s plans to move aggressively, keeping Hindutva as its plank in Karnataka.

The selection of the three-time MP, who has had his share of foot-in-mouth moments in the past, not only came as a surprise but also attracted mild criticism within the party ranks.

For instance, Bijapur city MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal advised the MP to visit all parts of the state as he had been restricted to Mangaluru. “I am not opposed to his appointment. My only advice for him is that he should leave Mangaluru and travel across the state,” he said.

Kateel has courted controversy regularly in the past. In May this year, he was pulled up by the BJP national leadership for a tweet which compared former prime minister Rajeev Gandhi with Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Naturam Godse. “Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is crueler in this??” - Nalin Kateel had tweeted, before deleting his comment.

Though the matter was referred to the disciplinary committee of BJP, no action was initiated against him.

Similarly, his speech in Kerala in 2017 had gone viral where he claimed that the economy of the country would improve to an extent where one rupee will be equivalent to 15 US dollars under Prime Minister Modi. The speech had spawned several sarcastic videos and memes in the coastal region.

Speaking to DH, political analyst Mahadeva Prakash said that appointment of Kateel was a political experiment to consolidate votes under Hindutva plank “which may not succeed”. Considering the tweet of several prominent state BJP leaders including Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa congratulating his appointment, it is clear that there is some discontent, he said.