Kirit Somaiya is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and former Member of Parliament (MP) and Member of the Legislative Assembly in Maharashtra. He is known for making controversial statements about minorities, Bangladeshi immigrants and propagating conspiracy theories about Muslims.

In January 2023, Somaiya 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.

In May 2023, Somaiya attacked National Congress Party (NCP) leader Jitendra Awhad over the latter’s remarks on ‘The Kerala Story,’ a controversial film, calling him a “maulana” (Muslim religious scholar). 

“Is Jitendra Awhad favoring the Islamic State (IS) now? He is concerned about the Muslim vote bank of his area — Mumbra…Doesn’t he have no concern for those thousands of girls who faced atrocities?” Somaiya asked.

In June 2024, after the BJP lost elections in Mankhurd, Maharashtra, Somaiya blamed the loss on the Muslim community, labelling them as “Bangladeshi” and referring to the region as a “Bangladeshi area.”

In November 2024, Somaiya supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Ek hai toh safe hai” (United, we are safe) remark, and was allegedly concerned over the growing number of illegal Rohingya and Bangladeshi residents in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Somaiya claimed that if this trend continued, the Hindu population in the city would shrink to 54% and also attacked the Congress party, claiming they would recognize all illegal mosques in Mumbai and prevent the passing of a law to curb “Love Jihad.”

In April 2025, Somaiya claimed that districts across Maharashtra had issued bogus birth certificates to Bangladeshi Muslims and nationals of other countries and sought criminal action. He further claimed that 97% of 223,000 birth certificate applicants were not Indian nationals and were in the age bracket of 40-60 years, stating it was a threat to national security and promoted terrorism.

Somaiya regularly posts false content and propaganda that is anti-Muslim, specifically targeting Bangladeshi Muslims, on his social media.