Karnataka minister BC Nagesh who was at centre of Hijab ban defeated by over 17,000 votes

Nagesh's controversial stance against young Muslim women wearing the Hijab in schools was met with heavy criticism from opposition parties, Kannada organizations, and civil society. He was also a main force behind the saffronization of textbooks, which caused further controversy and backlash.

Hyderabad: In the world of politics, it is often said that "what goes around, comes around," and this phrase seems to have held true for BC Nagesh, the former Karnataka school education minister who enforced the controversial Hijab ban in educational institutions. In a stunning turn of events, Nagesh was defeated by Congress candidate K Shadakshari in Tumkur's Tiptur seat, serving as a perfect example of the saying "karma comes back at you in unexpected ways." The results of the Assembly Election were declared on Saturday with Congress registering an emphatic win in the southern state.

Nagesh's controversial stance against young Muslim women wearing the Hijab in schools was met with heavy criticism from opposition parties, Kannada organizations, and civil society. He was also a main force behind the saffronization of textbooks, which caused further controversy and backlash. Eventually, due to the mounting pressure, he was forced to back down from his position.

Shadakshari of the Congress party won the Tiptur seat by a significant margin of 17,652 votes, receiving 46.13% of the total votes at 71,999, while Nagesh received 34.82% of the votes at 54,347. Nagesh had a major role in enforcing the prohibition on Muslim students wearing the Hijab at Karnataka's government pre-university institutions (PUC). He also refused to allow students to wear the Hijab during the state's PUC examinations.

The controversy reached its climax in December 2021 when six students from a government PU college in Udupi were barred from wearing the Hijab to class. The students petitioned the High Court, and ultimately the Supreme Court, to exercise their constitutionally granted right to religious freedom.

After the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on the Karnataka High Court's order disallowing Muslim girls from wearing Hijab to government colleges, Nagesh continued to stress that the order would remain valid and was at the forefront of the fight against Hijabs in government institutions. His stance caused further outrage among the public, ultimately leading to his defeat in the recent elections.

Nagesh had previously courted controversy when he claimed that religious texts such as the Bible and the Quran could not be compared with the Bhagavad Gita. This statement further highlighted his discriminatory views and added fuel to the fire of the already raging controversy.

In 2021, Nagesh was inducted into Basavaraj Bommai's ministry and was made the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, further adding to the controversy surrounding his views on religion and his stance on the Hijab ban.