Gopichand Padalkar, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Jat constituency in Sangli, Maharashtra, has emerged as one of the most hardline Hindutva voices in the state. He has repeatedly delivered anti-Muslim speeches, pushed for laws rooted in communal paranoia, and publicly challenged the idea of religious equality.

On April 28, 2025, during a protest against the Pahalgam terror attack organised by the Sakal Hindu Samaj,  a BJP-backed umbrella of Hindutva groups including VHP and Sanatan Sanstha. Padalkar claimed “all terrorists are Muslims,” declared that Hindus were in danger, and repeated conspiracies of “land jihad” and “love jihad.” He accused Muslims of waging a war on Hindus and blamed Kashmiri Muslims—not Pakistan—for the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits.

Just two days earlier, on April 26, 2025, Padalkar demanded that towns and villages in Sangli with Muslim-sounding names be renamed to erase what he described as “traces of the Mughal era.” He announced plans to write to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asking for Khanapur to be renamed Bhavanipur and called for similar changes to Sultan Gade and Umadi in Jat taluka. 

Padalkar also openly mocked the principle of sarva dharma sama bhav—that all religions are equal—calling it a lie imposed on Hindus and urging Hindus to reject it.

On March 24, 2023, speaking in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, he demanded an anti-conversion law, citing unverified cases of forced conversions and “love jihad” in rural areas like his own Aatpadi village. He alleged that Hindu men were being forcibly circumcised and Hindu women targeted for conversion, claiming police inaction and Muslim impunity. In the same speech, he invoked Hindu Garjana, a right-wing group protesting across the state against cow slaughter and interfaith relationships.

Padalkar has also been one of the key faces behind the revival of the Hindu Jan Aakrosh Morchas, organised by the Sakal Hindu Samaj. After BJP’s poor performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, the party doubled down on Hindutva, and from August 4, 2024, these morchas returned to the streets. They featured saffron processions and speeches against Muslims.

Padalkar has used these platforms to amplify unfounded cases, like that of Yashashri Shinde’s murder in Uran, calling it “love jihad” despite police denying the claim.

Gopichand Padalkar has consistently led Sangli’s shift into Hindutva politics