Simha booked for ‘derogatory’ remarks on K’taka CM: Police

A first information report was registered against Mysuru–Kodagu BJP MP Pratap Simha in Mysuru in connection with the remarks he had made earlier about Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on the sidelines of a Hanuman Jayanti event at Hunsur in the district on Tuesday

A first information report was registered against Mysuru–Kodagu BJP MP Pratap Simha in Mysuru in connection with the remarks he had made earlier about Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on the sidelines of a Hanuman Jayanti event at Hunsur in the district on Tuesday, said police.

the FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by a Congress worker, said officials. (X)

The Devaraja police station in Bengaluru city registered the FIR based on a complaint filed by a Congress worker, said officials.

“Following a complaint from Mysuru rural district Congress party president BJ Vijaya Kumar, we have registered a case under Indian Penal Code Sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace) and Section 153 (provocation with intent to cause a riot),” Devaraja police station inspector M Shiva Kumar said.

The officer added that as the incident occurred in Hunsur, the Hunsur police have jurisdiction to probe the case. “We have submitted a report to Courts of Judicial Magistrate of First Class requesting to transfer the FIR to the Hunsur court,” he added.

Simha had allegedly called chief minister Siddaramaiah as lazy and accused him of spreading hatred between castes, people familiar with the matter said. The comments triggered outrage among Congress workers, prompting a protest against Simha on December 26 night. The protest was eventually called off after the police assured the Congress workers that they will register an FIR against the BJP MP.

Mysore Rural Congress president BJ Vijayakumar later submitted a written complaint accusing Simha of making “continuous attempts to incite communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims”. Based on this, the police registered the FIR at Devaraja police station.

Vijaykumar, in his complaint said, “With this statement and also by making similar baseless allegations constantly, accusing CM of caste politics, Pratap Simha is hampering the charisma of CM, and also trying to provoke communal chaos between Hindu and Muslim communities, and hamper public peace ahead of Lok Sabha election.”

Addressing the media during the Hanuma Jayanti event in Hunsur on Tuesday, Simha had attacked Siddaramaiah. “There are 28 MPs in Karnataka. I don’t know why they are targeting only me. Should I too sit like somaari (lazy) Siddu without doing any work, pitting one caste against another? I am doing development work,” Simha said, criticising Congress leaders for their “relentless attack” on him.

After the FIR was registered, Simha said that he didn’t attack Siddaramaiah personally. “It is a figure out speech,” he said during a Facebook live.