Arvind Dharmapuri is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) from Nizamabad, Telangana. Known for heckling Muslim women and running a very aggressive Hindutva campaign during the elections, he regularly makes anti-minority comments.

In February 2021, Dharmapuri alleged that 32 forged passports were issued to members of the Rohingya community under one address, calling it a nexus of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) state government, police officials and Rohingya refugees. He also claimed that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a controversial law that grants expedited Indian citizenship to 6 religions except Muslims, would benefit minorities.

“This state is run by a family of buffoons. The CAA and NRC laws are the need of the hour and a matter of national security, parties like TRS, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party etc. which oppose these laws are against the national security of the country and can be called anti-national,” he claimed. In April 2024, he also alleged that the Congress government wanted to turn Telangana into a hub for illegal Rohingya migrants.

In August 2023, Dharmapuri defended the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), a controversial proposal that infringes on the constitutional freedom to practice the religion of one’s choice, especially of minorities. He claimed that the UCC was an attempt to ensure gender equality and ensured the “welfare” of the Muslim community.

In May 2024, Dharmapuri posted a hateful animated video with anti-Muslim rhetoric to attack the Congress, falsely alluding that giving reservation to Muslims will affect the quota granted to the Scheduled Castes (SC) Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC).

In the same month, Dharmapuri heckled women voters for wearing a burqa as well as polling officials in polling booths in Telangana during the federal elections. He questioned the polling officials about their alleged lapse in verifying burqa-wearing women voters and continued to argue with them even after they clarified that due process was followed.  “How will you check who came in to vote? How will you know? Are you doing your duty or passing time here?” he asked the officials.

He regularly posts in support of the BJP and its various campaigns on his social media and claims to be an ardent supporter of Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. He also posts hate posts against Muslims and Opposition party members, despite cases being filed against his content.