Kumara Chandrashekaranatha Swami was a seer and pontiff of the Vishwa Vokkaligara Mahasamsthana Mutt, a Hindu monastery in Bengaluru, Karnataka. He made controversial statements about Muslims’ voting rights and the Waqf Board, an Islamic charitable endowment. 

In November 2024, Chandrashekaranatha called for the disenfranchisement of Muslims in India during a protest organized by the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, a farmers’ organization associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), to oppose notices issued to farmers by the Waqf Board, in Bengaluru. 

“Politicians indulge in vote bank politics and appeasement of Muslims. Hence, Muslims should be deprived of exercising their voting powers. This should be done and the end of vote bank politics would help the progress of the country,” Chandrashekaranatha stated. He also claimed that in Pakistan, non-Muslims were legally not allowed to vote, suggesting the application of a similar law in India to strip Muslims of their voting rights.

“If we ensure they (Muslims) don’t have a right to vote, then they will keep to themselves, and everyone can remain peacefully. Pakistan has done a similar thing,” Chandrashekaranatha claimed. He also pushed for the abolition of the Waqf Board even at the cost of the fall of the government.

The state police filed a complaint against Chandrashekaranatha for his controversial statement for deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.

After his statements drew criticism, Chandrashekaranatha apologized and said, “The forum was about addressing the woes of farmers who are troubled by the Waqf Board. Against this backdrop, I made the remarks. It was a slip of the tongue. I should not have made the statements. Muslims are Indian citizens and they do not belong to other countries. I request you to end the matter at this stage and do not drag it further.”