Karnataka BJP MLC C T Ravi was arrested Thursday exterior the state Meeting, hours after an FIR was lodged towards him for allegedly making a derogatory comment towards Lady and Little one Improvement Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar.
The 57-year-old ex-BJP nationwide basic secretary, Ravi has accused the police of allegedly appearing on the instructions of somebody from the “prime”, calling the Congress-led authorities’s perspective “dictatorial”.
Ravi is not any stranger to controversy, having drawn flak up to now for his alleged anti-Muslim remarks. Calling Ravi a “filthy mouth”, Deputy Chief Minister D Okay Shivakumar on Friday dominated out any “interference” within the police motion.
Ravi’s staunch loyalty to the BJP and the Sangh Parivar has been one of many defining options of his political graph. When the BJP authorities stood on the precipice of a collapse within the southern state in 2010, torn between the factions led by then CM B S Yediyurappa and a bunch led by the Reddy brothers of Bellary, only a handful of the social gathering’s 117 MLAs have been thought of loyal solely to the social gathering. Ravi was one among them.
Ravi rose by way of the BJP ranks in Chikkamagaluru, which lies adjoining to the polarised coastal Karnataka area, as a youth chief within the post-Babri period within the Nineties. He performed a key position within the Hindu group’s agitation for management of a shrine within the Bababudangiri Hills that’s revered by Hindus and Muslims alike.
Ravi, a Vokkaliga chief, turned an MLA for the primary time in 2004 however was at odds with Yediyurappa, a Lingayat. His politics of hardcore Hindutva and communal feedback have typically been at odds with Yediyurappa, who’s a extra average chief. Ravi as soon as kicked up a row by referring to Siddaramaiah, the present CM, as “Siddaramullah Khan”.
In 2012, Ravi turned a minister for the primary time throughout the tenure of the Jagadish Shettar-led authorities. He was initially allied with the Ananth Kumar group, which had a giant say within the central BJP within the pre-Modi period, and is now thought of near BJP nationwide basic secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh, who’s one among Yediyurappa’s rivals. Shettar had come to energy after Yediyurappa left the social gathering over variations with the management on the time.
Ravi’s animosity in the direction of the Lingayat strongman was obvious final yr forward of the state Meeting elections when he urged that the previous CM and his son B Y Vijayendra have been not dominant forces within the social gathering.
“Simply bear in mind one factor. The choice on candidates is not going to be taken in anybody’s kitchen. No person will get a ticket as a result of they’re any person’s son. The choice on tickets may also not be taken on the dwelling of an aspirant,” Ravi had then mentioned, happening to particularly point out Vijayendra. “On the query of Vijayendra, the choice might be taken by the parliamentary board.”
Although his organisational expertise make Ravi a key BJP chief in Karnataka, his main downside is that he doesn’t benefit from the help of any caste group, not like Yediyurappa. After his feedback towards Yediyurappa triggered protests from some Lingayat teams, the BJP central management reportedly suggested him to train warning whereas making statements.
In September 2020, Ravi was appointed the BJP nationwide basic secretary. His elevation, throughout Yediyurappa’s second time period because the CM, adopted the appointment of Santhosh because the nationwide social gathering basic secretary (organisation).
Ravi was a tourism minister within the Yediyurappa authorities on the time, and regarded one of many younger frontrunners after the BJP pressured the veteran chief out as CM in July 2021. Nonetheless, the BJP lastly performed secure and plumped for one more Lingayat candidate to switch Yediyurappa, within the type of Basavaraj Bommai.
Within the 2023 Meeting polls, Ravi was among the many BJP heavyweights who misplaced. Having received the Chikmagalur constituency in every of the final 4 elections, Ravi misplaced narrowly to H D Thammaiah, a Yediyurappa-affiliated chief from the Lingayat neighborhood who had joined the Congress.
In July 2023, Ravi was dropped as BJP nationwide basic secretary, fuelling hypothesis that he could also be tapped for the brand new state social gathering chief put up, regardless of opposition from the Yediyurappa camp. The run-up to the Meeting elections had been marked by a relentless tussle between Ravi and Yeddiyurappa, and after his ballot loss, Ravi had publicly blamed social gathering insiders for “colluding” with the Opposition. However in November that yr, Vijayendra was as a substitute appointed because the state BJP chief, additional isolating Ravi within the social gathering unit.
Ravi has had his justifiable share of rows, with questions being raised, together with from inside the social gathering, concerning the speedy improve in his wealth. In 2022, when some Hindu right-wing teams gave a name to boycott halal meat, Ravi likened halal meals to “financial jihad”.
Earlier this yr, throughout the Lok Sabha elections, Ravi was booked for an alleged hate put up on X in violation of the Mannequin Code of Conduct. Although he was an aspirant for the Chikkamagaluru-Udupi Lok Sabha seat, the BJP ultimately fielded Kota Shrinivas Poojari, a former minister, from there, who sailed by way of.
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