“I told the Commissioner of Police yesterday that we should shut down all pubs in the district. It's ruining youngsters,” declared the BJP Karnataka president, Nalin Kumar Kateel, speaking to party workers in Dakshina Kannada. Thus far, his comment has not received support either from the district administration in Dakshina Kannada or the BJP government in the state. “In our time we stopped operation of clubs. If the government doesn't take a decision, I'll urge the youth wing to take appropriate legal action,” Kateel added amidst applause from his audience.
TNM spoke to sources in the Karnataka CM’s office, on whether the demand made by Kateel on closure of pubs in the coastal city is being deliberated. We were told that no such formal request has come to them. The source also confirmed that the CM has not even considered closure of pubs in Mangaluru or elsewhere in the state. After Unlock 4, the Karnataka government has allowed restaurants, pubs and bars to reopen with precautionary measures.
Kateel is no stranger to controversies and openly wears his Hindutva brand of politics on his sleeves. Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he had said, “Nathuram Godse had killed only one person-Mahatma Gandhi. Former Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi had killed 17,000.” But despite this, months later, he was promoted from an MP to Karnataka BJP President, replacing BS Yediyurappa.
In another instance, Kateel had threatened a police officer in the district, demanding the release of BJP party workers who were arrested. He had also once said that he would set the district on fire if his party workers were not released.
Kateel was elected to Lok Sabha from Dakshina Kannada district in 2009, in the backdrop of the infamous pub violence that took place in Mangaluru. Since then, the three-time MP has made several contentious statements on moral policing, cow slaughter, love jihad etc.
Kateel has been issued notices too for his remarks, latest one for his statement on Rajeev Gandhi. But beyond that, no action has been taken against him by the party.