The Karnataka Police Thursday registered a case against BJP MLC C T Ravi for allegedly delivering a provocative speech targeting a minority community during the Ganesha idol immersion ceremony in Maddur town in the Mandya district Wednesday.
According to the suo motu FIR by the Maddur police, Ravi made the speech during a mass Ganesha idol immersion event in which several BJP leaders participated in Maddur. It followed an alleged stone pelting incident during a Ganesha idol procession on September 7.
The police booked Ravi under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Section 196 (1)[promote or attempt to promote disharmony, enmity, hatred, or ill-will between different religious, racial, linguistic, or regional groups, or between castes or communities].
On Thursday, Ravi said he will continue to fight for Hindutva causes. “Should we sit quietly if stones are pelted at the Ganesha procession? What I said was that for every action there will be a reaction,” he added.
Ravi, a former MLA from the Chikkamagaluru Assembly seat, lost in the 2023 polls. Following this, the BJP made him a member of the Legislative Council. On December 19, 2024, the police arrested him at the Suvarna Vidhan Soudha in Belagavi for allegedly using a derogatory term against minister Laxmi Hebbalkar in the Legislative Council hall.
Ravi was previously booked for a similar offence, related to a post on X in the lead-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.