A special court in Bengaluru Wednesday issued a non-bailable warrant against BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal for failing to appear before it in connection to his alleged derogatory remarks against Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao’s wife Tabassum Rao.
The warrant followed Tabassum Rao’s private complaint against Yatnal, wherein she said the BJP MLA’s statement that “half of Pakistan is in his (Dinesh Gundu Rao) house” was a communal slur directed at her faith.
The 24th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) had accepted her petition on August 29 and summoned Yatnal to appear personally in court on October 16. When he failed to comply, the court issued a non-bailable warrant, authorising the police to arrest him. The next hearing is scheduled for October 28.
This incident followed an earlier controversy when Minister Rao had criticised the BJP after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) questioned a BJP worker about the Rameshwaram café blast. In response, Yatnal had made the “half-Pakistan” remark.
Tabassum Rao had also filed a complaint with the Karnataka State Women’s Commission over a series of derogatory comments made on social media platform X regarding her and her husband. These comments were tied to the ongoing beef remark controversy involving Minister Rao.
In her complaint, she said, “As the wife of Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, I have faced unwarranted attacks and communal insinuations solely because of my marriage and my Muslim faith.”
Dinesh Gundu Rao recently hit the headlines over his remarks on V D Savarkar. On Gandhi Jayanti, he referenced V D Savarkar, a prominent figure for the BJP, pointing out that Savarkar, a Chitpavan Brahmin, was not opposed to cow slaughter and even consumed meat, underscoring what he saw as the BJP’s hypocrisy in using communal sentiments over beef consumption.