Pratap Simha

Pratap Simha
Member of Parliament
for Mysore
Assumed office
26 May 2014
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Preceded by Adagur H. Vishwanath
Personal details
Born (1976-06-21) 21 June 1976
Sakleshpur, Karnataka, India
Political party Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse(s) Arpitha
Children 1
Residence Sakleshpur, Mysore
Website pratapsimha.com

Pratap Simha (born 21 June 1976)[1] is a Member of Parliament from the 16th Lok Sabha of India.[2] He was born in Sakleshpur, Hassan. He represents Mysore constituency of Karnataka and he is the President of Yuva Morcha Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Karnataka. He won the Mysore Lok Sabha seat in 2014 by defeating the incumbent Congress MP Adagur H. Vishwanath by 32,000 votes.

Career

As journalist

Simha joined the Kannada-language newspaper Vijaya Karnataka in 1999 as a trainee. He was later elevated as the editor and functioned under senior editor Vishweshwar Bhat during the time. He wrote his column under the title Bettale Jagattu (The Naked World) espousing Hindutva and being fiercely critical of anybody opposing it.[3] Writing an article for the Outlook in 2014, he claimed that with his book Narendra Modi: Yaaru Thuliyada Haadi (Narendra Modi: The Untrodden Road) written in 2008, Simha "introduc[ed] Modi to Karnataka."[4] Expressing his desire to contest from the Udupi Chikmagalur constituency as a member of the BJP in the 2014 general election, he candidature was accepted by the party, but was asked to contest from Mysore. Then a journalist with Kannada Prabha, Simha resigned in April 2014 before beginning his electoral campaign, and subsequently winning the seat. He summed up: "In 33 days, I had gone from columnist to parliamentarian."[4]

As politician

In June 2015, Simha was appointed as a member of the Press Council of India.[3] As a politician and a Member of the Parliament (MP), Simha came to be known for his radical stances in the promotion of hardline Hindutva.[5][6] Described as "temperamental", his tenure as an MP was marked by several controversies. He was a vocal against government of Karnataka's birthday celebrations of Tipu Sultan starting 2015. He voiced that Sultan could be a "role model only for Islamists" and that the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was "encouraging Jihadists" in the State.[7] In 2017, against this backdrop, and police's prohibitory orders against taking procession of Hanuman Jayanti's organizers in Hunsur, a town in his constituency, Simha was arrested after he violated the prohibitory orders.[8] In a widely circulated video, he was seen subsequently threatening the police officials and questioning their intent of "restricting" celebration of festivals of the Hindu faith,[6] and barging through the barricade in his car.[9]

In February 2017, he received criticism after he compared Gurmehar Kaur, a student of Delhi University who spoke against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a student body affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, to gangster Dawood Ibrahim.[10] He courted controversy again in November that year while making statements against actor Prakash Raj after the latter questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence following "certain killings" in the country. Simha had tweeted, "Being sad due to son's death, having left your wife and ran behind a dancer, Mr. Raj, do you have any right to say anything to Yogi, Modi".[11] He was subsequently sent a legal notice to by Raj calling for an unconditional public apology, and that failing which he would "press criminal charges" against him.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Lok Sabha profile of Pratap Simha".
  2. ↑ ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA (16 May 2014). "GENERAL ELECTION TO LOK SABHA TRENDS & RESULT 2014". ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA. Mysore. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
  3. 1 2 "Karnataka MP and former journalist Pratap Simha made Press Council of India member". The News Minute. 17 June 2015. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  4. 1 2 "'I Was The Only Candidate Modi Hugged Here'". Outlook (magazine). Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  5. ↑ "There is no plan or strategy for Hardline Hindutva: B S Yeddyurappa". The New Indian Express. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Pratap Simha: A Heady Mix of Ambition, Controversy and Temperament". Network 18. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  7. ↑ "BJP MP Pratap Simha opposes Tipu Jayanti, says Tipu can be a role model only for Islamists". India Today. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "Pratap Simha among several arrested in Hunsur ahead of Hanuma Jayanthi". The Hindu. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  9. ↑ Sayeed, Vikhar Ahmed. "Polarisation game". Frontline. No. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  10. ↑ "BJP MP Pratap Simha compares DU student Gurmehar Kaur with Dawood". The New Indian Express. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  11. ↑ "Actor Prakash Raj sends legal notice to BJP MP Pratap Simha over alleged trolling". Firstpost. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  12. ↑ "Prakash Raj issues legal notice to MP Pratap Simha". The Hindu. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2018.


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