Yashpal Suvarna: Cow vigilante to college admin, BJP leader hopes for another leg-up with hijab row

Cow vigilante to college admin, BJP leader hopes for another leg-up with hijab row

Yashpal Anand Suvarna. (Express)

3 min readUdupiMar 18, 2022 08:03 PM IST First published on: Mar 17, 2022 at 08:24 PM IST

Within the BJP ecosystem in Karnataka’s coastal districts, Yashpal Anand Suvarna is a rising star – as a cow vigilante, an ABVP leader, a Bajrang Dal activist, the general secretary of the BJP National OBC Morcha and, by all accounts, a future MLA.

The 44-year-old is also the vice-president of the Development Committee of the Udupi Government PU Girls’ College which is at the heart of the hijab row, who on Wednesday called the six students who moved court over the matter “terrorists”. Suvarna says he stands by his statement as those who do not follow the law of the land are “anti-nationals”.

His political career apart, Suvarna’s clout has also aided the family’s fishing business, set up by his father after quitting work at a bank. For the past 13 years, Suvarna has been president of the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts’ Cooperative Fish Marketing Federation. The saying goes that in coastal Karnataka, whoever controls the seas, controls the region. The OBC community that Suvarna belongs to, Mogaveera, is largely employed in fishing.

Explained | Missionaries, banks, individuals: behind Udupi’s tradition of education

In the coastal districts where communal issues hold more sway than caste, as is the case in other parts of Karnataka, the Suvarna family has had old links with the RSS. As far back as 1980, Suvarna’s uncle Raghunath, an RSS worker, had contested from Surathkal Assembly constituency and lost.

Explained | Freedom of religion and attire

While in college, Suvarna got associated with the ABVP, followed by the Bajrang Dal. By his late 20s, he had earned a reputation locally as a cow vigilante. In 2005, he was one of the prime accused in the stripping and parading of a father and his son who were allegedly transporting calves. He was later acquitted by a special trial court.

In 2017, when Sri Vishweshateertha Swamiji of the Pejawar Mutt of Udupi organised an iftar party inside the mutt, Suvarna was among those who objected. “I told the seer not to entertain Muslims, but did not comment against him in public as he was my guru,” he says.

CPM leader Muneer Katipalla says Suvarna has earned rich dividends from polarisation, like others. “We raised this concern 15 years ago, but it was neglected.”

Athavulla Punjalkatte, the Karnataka president of the Campus Front of India (CFI), which has backed the hijab petitioners in their legal fight, says Suvarna’s statement shows his intentions. “He is a ticket aspirant in the next Assembly elections and has been trying to woo the high command by giving such statements. Sadly, these are encouraged by the BJP.”

Udupi district has five Assembly constituencies, and Suvarna is reportedly eyeing Kapu. The 44-year-old says he has not approached the BJP or the RSS for a ticket, but if the party wants him to contest, he will. However, he adds, “Politics is secondary. Hindutva is the first priority.”