Disguised Version Of UPA's Communal Violence Bill: Expelled Karnataka BJP MLA Slams Congress' Proposed Rohith Vemula Bill As 'Political Gimmick'

Basangouda Patil Yatnal, an MLA from Karnataka's Bijapur, has strongly criticised the Congress-led state government's proposed Rohith Vemula Bill, labeling it a "political gimmick" aimed at dividing Hindus.

The Karnataka Rohith Vemula (Prevention of Exclusion or Injustice)(Right to Education and Dignity) Bill, 2025, is expected to be tabled in the upcoming Monsoon Session of the legislature, Indian Express had reported.

The Bill aims to “prevent exclusion or injustice and to safeguard the right to education and dignity for the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC) and minorities and to provide equal access and right to education in all public or Private or Deemed Universities established in the State of Karnataka”.

According to the draft of the bill reported by IE, o ffence under the legislation, will be non-bailable and cognisable.

Every person who discriminates and every person who aids or abets in the episode are liable for punishment.

"The Karnataka Congress government’s plan to introduce the Rohith Vemula Bill in the Assembly is nothing but a political gimmick and part of the Congress party’s hidden agenda to divide Hindus," Patil said in a post on X on Wednesday (16 July).

Patil, who was expelled from BJP for six years in March this year, said the bill claims to “prevent exclusion and injustice” and safeguard the right to education and dignity of SC, ST, OBC, and minority communities by ensuring equal access to education in all public, private, and deemed universities.

"In reality, however, the Karnataka government is injecting a casteist narrative into the education system under the guise of the Rohith Vemula Bill," he added.

Patil said that championing the rights of SC, ST, OBC and minority communities "must not come at the cost of vilifying or criminalizing students from the General category".

"You cannot deliver justice to one group by inflicting injustice on another. That is not upliftment — it is nothing but blatant reverse discrimination," he added.

He further alleged that the bill is "nothing but a disguised version of the Communal Violence Bill of 2013, which UPA-II had attempted to bring".

"I will strongly oppose this Bill in the Karnataka Assembly when introduced. I will not allow Siddaramaiah to ride roughshod over Hindu society with such divisive and dangerous legislation," he added.

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