NSUI has knives delivered to BJP leader's home over "cut into pieces" remark

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s message of ‘mohabbat ki dukaam', which won him praise from a liberal public and ridicule from the Opposition BJP, appears to have completely sailed over the heads of his party’s student wing. In a bizarre development, the National Students Union of India (NSUI), had over a dozen knives delivered to the house of a BJP leader to protest the latter’s ‘violent’ remarks. 

The Karnataka unit of the NSUI on Saturday, November 7, had knives and cutters delivered to BJP leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy’s residence through online platforms. Narayanaswamy is the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council.

The protest was aimed at remarks Narayanaswamy allegedly made that Congress leaders would be "cut into pieces and thrown into the Arabian Sea" if they created unrest.

NSUI state president Kirthi Ganesh later released a video taking responsibility and confirming that the deliveries were deliberate. He challenged Narayanaswamy to carry out his alleged threat. "Try cutting even a single party worker into just one piece and show us," he said. 

Ganesh called on Congress and NSUI workers across the state to place similar orders and said he had shared the BJP leader's address and phone number online so others could join. He also warned the BJP leader against harming any Congress worker.

BJP demands FIR

The BJP took the matter to the police. A delegation led by state president BY Vijayendra, with Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka, Narayanaswamy and other senior leaders, met Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh and submitted a formal complaint. 

The complaint alleged that the knife orders were placed through quick-commerce apps using 10 to 20 mobile numbers, and that eight to 10 NSUI workers gathered outside the residence after the deliveries to intimidate him. 

Ashoka said on X that the episode was a failure of law and order under the Congress government. He also described the Congress as a "goonda party".