An FIR was registered against BJP MP Pratap Simha in Mysuru over remarks he made about Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the sidelines of a Hanuman Jayanti event at Hunsur in the district on Tuesday. “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. The remarks prompted protests from Congress workers in Mysuru. The FIR, registered under Indian Penal Code sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot), was based on a complaint lodged at the Devaraja police station by district Congress president BJ Vijaykumar. The complaint alleged that Simha had falsely accused Siddaramaiah of trying to foment caste tensions and repeatedly trying to trigger communal riots between Hindus and Muslims. The Mysore MP was in the news recently after the two intruders who interrupted Parliament proceedings with smoke canisters were revealed to have got visitor’s passes from him. Congress and BJP leaders later traded allegations in the Assembly over the incident. The latest incident is the third in the series of controversies the MP has got mired in recently. Simha was under the scanner last week after allegations surfaced that his brother Vikram Simha had illegally felled over 100 trees. The Congress used the issue to mount an attack on the BJP MP. Simha has denied the allegations against his brother. The forest and revenue departments are investigating the allegations.
