Medha Kulkarni is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) from Pune, Maharashtra. She is known for preventing Muslims from practicing their faith and for “purifying” places where they offered prayers. 

In April 2025, Kulkarni threatened Salahuddin Dargah committee members in Pune during a Hindu festival, accused them of playing the azan (Muslim call to prayer) at a very high volume and tried to stop it from playing. She also threatened to file a defamation suit against them when they complained against her. However, in a video that went viral on social media, only Hindu religious songs can be heard.

In October 2025, Kulkarni, accompanied by volunteers and members of Sakal Hindu Samaj, an umbrella body of Hindutva organizations, launched a protest at Shaniwarwada, an 18th-century Maratha Fort, after a video showing a group of women offering namaaz (Islamic prayer) was circulated on social media. They proceeded to “purify” the spot with cow urine and the recitation of Hindu religious verses.

“We will not allow namaz in Shaniwar Wada. The Hindu community has awakened. Chalo Shaniwar Wada,” Kulkarni wrote on X, prior to the demonstration. After the incident, she posted on X, “Shaniwar Wada is a historic site. It is a symbol of our victory, the center from which the Maratha Empire expanded from Attock to Cuttack. If someone comes here and recites Namaz, we will not tolerate it…” 

Kulkarni further defended her actions saying it was a symbolic protest to ensure that Pune’s social harmony was not disturbed and that the site cannot be turned into a mosque. She also added that a Muslim shrine nearby was an “illegal religious structure” stating, “If people want to offer namaz there, then Hindus should also be allowed to perform aarti in mosques or even at the Taj Mahal.”

In her social media posts, Kulkarni praises other BJP leaders, attends and promotes the activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and has also shown support for Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the ideologue behind Hindutva, by posting an image that says “I am Savarkar” in Marathi.