BJP candidate and Karnataka’s School Education Minister BC Nagesh lost to Congress’s K Shadakshari in Tiptur constituency in Tumkur. Nagesh was the government’s face as it took a hard stance on young women wearing hijab in classrooms. He was also one of the driving forces behind the saffronisation of textbooks and had to retreat only because of massive pushback from the opposition, Kannada groups, and civil society.
Congress’s Shadakshari won by a margin of 17,652 votes. The INC candidate secured 46.13% of the vote share (71,999 votes) beating Nagesh, who came second securing 34.82% of the vote share (54,347 votes).
A two-time MLA, Nagesh had earlier been elected in 2008 and 2018 in Tiptur, while Shadakshari won from the same constituency in 2013. In 2021, Nagesh was appointed the state Education Minister after Basavaraj Bommai took over as Chief Minister of Karnataka.
While as Education Minister Nagesh was instrumental in enforcing the ban on Muslim students wearing the hijab in Karnataka’s government pre-university colleges (PUC), he also did not exempt students from wearing the hijab during the PUC examinations in the state. The hijab row peaked in December 2021, after six students from the government PU college in Udupi were disallowed from attending classes in a hijab. The students moved the High Court and later the Supreme Court to exercise their right to religious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution.
The stringent implementation of the hijab ban caused several parents and students to consider leaving the universities, with several families deciding to relocate to other towns. According to Muslim Okkoota, a coalition of Muslim organisations in Udupi, at least 183 pre-university students were unable to appear for examinations in 2021. This represents 12.5% of the 1,446 Muslim girl students in just Udupi's PUCs.
The BJP is heading towards a loss in Karnataka as the party witnessed a major setback. The Congress, as of 3:30 pm on Saturday, has won and/or is leading in 135 seats, while the BJP has won 22 seats and is leading in 43 seats, taking its total count to 65. The JD(S) has won a single seat so far, and is leading in 19 constituencies.