Atul Bhatkhalkar is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Mumbai, Maharashtra and currently serves as the General Secretary of the BJP Maharashtra State Unit. He is known for supporting the Hindutva ideology, attacking opposition leaders and supporting anti-minority propaganda.

In October 2020, Bhatkhalkar demanded stringent action against those responsible for sticking posters of the French President Emmanuel Macron on a road in Mumbai after the latter defended the publication of caricatures depicting Prophet Muhammad on free speech grounds, sparking angry protests across the Muslim world 

In November 2020, Bhatkhalkar criticized Pandurang Sakpal, a Shiv Sena leader, for suggesting an ‘Azaan’ (call to prayer) recitation competition for Muslim children in Mumbai. He said that the Shiv Sena had always opposed ‘namaaz’ on the roads. 

“The Sena used to campaign saying voting for Congress was like voting for terror or for (Ajmal) Kasab,” he said

In February 2021, Bhatkhalkar filed a police complaint against Muslim activist Sharjeel Usmani claiming that he was fomenting communal hatred during a speech he gave at the Elgar Parishad in Pune in January. Usmani had said that “The Hindu community has badly degenerated in today’s India.”

In January 2022, the police registered a complaint against Bhatkhalkar and others for protesting against renaming a refurbished sports complex in Mumbai, after Tipu Sultan, a Muslim King from Mysore. They were booked for unlawful assembly, rioting, wrongful restraint and violating Covid-19 guidelines. Bhatkhalkar said that the BJP was not afraid of the police and would not tolerate the “glorification of Hindu haters.”

In January 2023, Bhatkhalkar attended an event organized by the Sakal Hindu Samaj, an umbrella body of Hindutva organizations, in Mumbai where calls were made for the economic boycott of Muslim-owned businesses as well as laws against religious conversions and alleged “Love Jihad,” a conspiracy theory propagated by Hindutva groups that Muslim men seduce Hindu women in order to convert them to Islam.

Bhatkhalkar has often attacked and criticized Abu Asim Azmi, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and MLA from Mumbai. In March 2023, Bhatkhalkar supported Mangal Prabhat Lodha on the issue of “Love Jihad,” after Azmi alleged that Lodha had provided false information on the same. 

“If the minister has allegedly given wrong information, a notice for breach of privilege motion can be submitted against him, but the SP MLA can not go on criticizing him,”

In July 2023, Bhatkhalkar attacked Azmi when the latter criticized the controversial Bollywood film ‘The Kashmir Files.’ In March 2025, he demanded that Azmi be suspended for praising Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. 

Bhatkhalkar routinely posts content of his public outreach programs and activities on his social media, praises other BJP members and leaders and promotes Hindu religious festivals.