Parliament intruder a Modi and Vivekananda fan, student leader says father
Manoranjan D (35), one of the two men who burst into the well of the parliament shouting anti-government slogans on Wednesday December 13, was once a fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as a student leader. Speaking to the media in Mysuru hours after the incident, Manoranjan’s father Devaraj Gowda revealed that his son was an engineer by training and claimed that he was a fan of the PM. He also said that the family sympathised with the BJP and that they had good relations with local BJP MP Pratap Simha whose office issued the passes to the intruders.
Expressing strong disapproval, he said, "If my son engaged in wrongdoing, he's no longer my son. It's akin to desecrating a temple, and such actions are condemnable. I am a farmer and my son doing something like that is condemnable. I condemn this. No child should engage in such actions."
Devaraj claimed that he was completely unaware of his son's presence in Delhi and said that he strongly disapproves of his involvement in the incident. He said, "If he has done something wrong, he is not my son. But let me tell you, he is good… I was unaware he is in Delhi. I do not know about his affiliations. I condemn his act. He finished engineering in 2014. He used to travel to Delhi, Maharashtra. He had the mindset to help poor people."
He said that their family belongs to the village of former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda. "We hail from Arkalgud taluk in Hassan district. We relocated to Mysuru approximately 15 years ago for my son's education. He pursued his engineering studies in Bengaluru, and it was through the assistance of Deve Gowda that he secured a seat there. He successfully graduated in 2014…His frequent visits were primarily to Bengaluru. His passion lay in reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, amassing a collection of over 10,000 books. He wouldn't even buy underwear or a vest for himself, would only buy books and read,” Devaraj said.
“I am not sure if it was him reading or studying too much that led him to do this. He wasn’t involved in any anti- social activities. He was involved in helping people. [The] Prime Minister is a God...He was a huge fan of the Prime minister. He used to say that having a PM like him is a blessing,” Devaraj told reporters in front of his residence in Vijayanagar. He said that Manoranjan was frequenting Delhi and Bengaluru but never discussed his whereabouts with the family.
Manoranjan was previously involved in farming alongside his father. He had also worked in an IT firm in Bengaluru and was known to frequently travel to Delhi and Bengaluru. The father, expressing his disbelief, said that he knew about his son's past as a student leader but denied knowledge of his political affiliations.
Shortly after the incident, Vijayanagar police in Mysuru visited the family's residence, collecting information about Manoranjan's activities. Preliminary investigations revealed that Manoranjan and another intruder Sagar had a visitor’s pass issued by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Mysuru MP Pratap Simha. Responding to the findings that his son secured the visitor pass from Pratap Simha, Devaraj said that their family were voters of the BJP MP and that they had a good rapport with him. “We only made Pratap Simha the MP when he contested from Mysuru for the first time. Pratap Simha is a good human. Just because he issued the pass, we can't say he did anything wrong.” He also added that both his father and uncle have been involved in politics. “Our allegiance isn't tied to a specific party; we support those who help us.” Devaraj said.