Chaitra Kundapura is a former Indian news anchor, journalist and Hindutva activist who made headlines in the BJP ticket fraud case in September 2023.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Chaitra Kundapura was born on 5 April and hails from Kundapura, Karnataka. His zodiac sign is Aries. He studied at a government school in Kundapura and then joined the Government Pre-University College, Thekkatte, Karnataka. He studied Journalism and Mass Communication at Mangalore University.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 4″
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: black
Family
parents and siblings
His mother’s name is Rohini.
An old photograph of Chaitra Kundapura’s parents
Chaitra Kundapura performing a religious ritual with his parents
husband and children
His marital status is unknown.
Religion
She follows Hindu religion.
livelihood
He started working in the Kannada television news channel Samaya News 24X7. In 2016, she joined media company Spandana TV as a news anchor.
Chaitra Kundapura is working as a news anchor for Spandana TV
Later, Chaitra moved to Kundapura town in Udupi district of Karnataka, where she continued working as a journalist. In 2015, he started working as a sub-editor at the Kannada daily newspaper Udayavani in Manipal, Karnataka.
Chaitra Kundapura as an anchor on a Kannada news channel
In 2020, she joined KLH Infotech Limited as SEO Marketing Manager. He also worked at UBMC School in Kundapur, Karnataka.
As a Hindutva activist
In 2013, she became a member of the National Executive Committee of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). By 2015, she became a member of its Central Working Committee (CWC). An active ABVP member, Chaitra led the agitation over the murders of two students, Ratna Kothari in 2014 and Akshata Devadiga in 2015. In 2018, Chaitra earned praise from BJP leaders including Shobha Karandlaje for protesting the Bharat Bandh called on 9 September. Congress and other parties on rising fuel prices. She often gives provocative speeches at events organized by right-wing groups like Ramkshatriya Seva Sangh (Puttur), Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). His social media handles include several photographs of anti-Muslim rallies, public engagement initiatives and campaigns.
Chaitra on the occasion of Ugadi festival in Hirebettu village in Udupi district of Karnataka.
He actively campaigned for the BJP during the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, especially in Uttara Kannada. During the election campaign, she often shared the stage with various Hindutva leaders like Shri Ram Sena founder Pramod Muthalik and Bajrang Dal’s Sharan Pumpwell. Reportedly, Chaitra was banned from entering Aland taluk of Kalaburagi from 27 February to 3 March 2022 by the order of the District Collector, citing the need to maintain peace and harmony in the district as the primary reason for the ban. Was cited.
Chaitra Kundapura speaking at the Satyanarayana puja and religious meeting organized by Ramakshatriya Seva Sangh (Puttur) in Dakshina Kannada district Puttur in 2023
controversies
Attack on a Hindu Jagran Vedic activist
In 2018, Chaitra Kundapura along with five of his associates were sent to seven-day police custody by a Karnataka court. He was arrested following an incident in which he and his group attacked Guruprasad Panja, who served as the Sullia Taluk Secretary of Hindu Jagran Vedike. According to a sub-inspector, Chaitra and his associates attacked Panja outside his shop near Kashi Katte. The attack occurred after Chaitra had visited the Kukke Subramaniam Math earlier that day. After a heated argument between the two Hindu leaders, one of Chaitra’s associates used a steel rod to attack Panja. Chaitra was charged with assault under IPC 351. At the time, Panja and Chaitra had been in a dispute for more than two weeks on Facebook over the performance of the “Sarpa Sanskar” ritual, which involves worshiping the serpent deity. Chaitra wanted the ritual to be conducted at the monastery, while Panja, who was associated with the Kukke Subramaniam temple, preferred to hold it there. Vidyaprasannatirtha Swami, the saint of the monastery, had started a hunger strike on this controversial issue. Even Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy reacted to the incident on October 14, urging the saint to end his hunger strike and find a peaceful solution to the matter.
Case registered for hate speech
On October 4, 2021, a complaint was filed by Abdul Khadar of Idya against Kundapura for delivering hate speech during a Bajrang Dal and Durga Vahini event in Surathkal, leading to communal tension. In the speech he talked about ‘Love Jihad’ and said that Hindu groups can also convert Muslims and make them wear kumkum (sindoor). Love Jihad or Romeo Jihad is an Islamophobic conspiracy theory promoted by right-wing Hindutva activists. The conspiracy theory alleges that Muslim men lure Hindu and Christian women into converting to Islam through methods such as seduction, love and marriage. He said,
If only 23% are showing so much arrogance, then how much arrogance should the 70% Hindus show? This is the final warning for you. If you can stop doing ‘Love Jihad’, you will survive. If 70% Hindus decide to convert 23% Muslims, and decide to love them, then only two days are enough and you will not see a single burqa in the homes of Muslims. We will apply kumkum on the forehead of every Muslim girl.”
Video clips of the speech went viral on the internet. He was charged under Indian Penal Code sections 153A (promoting disharmony, hostility or animosity between different groups) and 505 (2) (making statements promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will).
Cash-for-MLA ticket scam
On 8 September 2023, a businessman named Govind Babu Pujari filed an FIR in Bengaluru, accusing Kundapura and his associates of stealing Rs 5 crore from him by promising him a BJP ticket from Byndoor constituency in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections. Went. Kundapura was made the first accused in the FIR, followed by Gagan Kadur, Abhinav Halashree Swamiji (from Sansthan Math in Hospet), Ramesh, Naik, Dhanraj, Srikanth and Prasad Bayandur. He was booked under IPC sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 419 (cheating), 420 (cheating), 170 (impersonating a public servant), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120B (criminal conspiracy). While Kundapura had grabbed Rs 3.5 crore, seer Abhinav Halashree had grabbed Rs 1.5 crore from the priest. Narrating the incident to the police, the priest said,
Through Prasad Byndoor, I met Chaitra in 2022 and he promised to help me get a ticket from Byndoor constituency in the assembly elections. In July 2022, they took me to Chikkamagaluru and introduced me to one Vishwanathji, claiming that he was an RSS pracharak. He promised me the ticket but said I would have to pay for it. …In July 2022, I gave Rs 50 lakh cash advance to Gagan Kadur of BJP Yuva Morcha. Later Vishwanathji told me that my name had come in the probable list and I would have to pay Rs 3 crore to get the ticket. I paid Rs 3 crore to Gagan and Chaitra in October 2022. Then, as directed by Chaitra and others, I met one Abhinav Halashree Swamy, who claimed to have contacts with top BJP leaders and would get me a ticket, at his Bengaluru residence and gave him Rs 1.5 crore in cash… In March this year, Chaitra told me that Vishwanathji had died of illness. When I inquired with other BJP officials, they told me that no RSS pracharak named Vishwanathji lived in Chikkamagalur. When I interrogated Chaitra and others and asked for my money back, they threatened to commit suicide. When I inquired with other BJP workers in Chikkamagalur, I realized that I had been cheated.
The case was transferred to the Central Crime Branch (CCB), which formed three teams to trace the suspects. GM Abhinav Halveerappajja, the saint of Halashree Math in Vijayanagara, was absconding when he was caught by the police while traveling in a train near Cuttack in Odisha on September 18. Reportedly, Chaitra realized that the police were looking for her, and hence, she switched off her mobile and asked one of her colleagues to bring her a new phone and a SIM card. However, the police traced him after arresting Prasad Baindoor on September 12. He made Chaitra call from Byndoor and asked him to meet him in the parking lot of Sri Krishna Math, Udupi, for the mobile and SIM card, where the police arrested him. Meanwhile, his associates Gagan Kadur, Ramesh, Dhanraj, Srikant and Prajwal were caught from different places in the state, meanwhile, Abhinav Hala Swamy was still absconding. Gagan Kadur is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the BJP. On September 15, while he was being interrogated by CCB officials, he suffered an epileptic fit, following which he was taken to Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru. When Kundapura was being brought to the CCB office for questioning, he told the media that his arrest was part of a “conspiracy related to the Indira canteen pending bill issue”. He also said that with the arrest of one Swamiji, many big names will come to light. By September 17, Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths had recovered over Rs 2 crore from Chaitra, which he had used to buy a car, invest in fixed deposits and buy gold valuables. The matter first came to light in July 2023 when a Hindu leader named Satyajit Suratkal from coastal Karnataka called Rajashekharananda Swamiji of Vajradehi Math and asked him to return Rs 1.5 crore taken from the priest. The confused Rajasekharananda Swamiji told Suratkal that he had met the priest only once in Kollur and knew nothing about the money. Later, it was clarified that the real person involved in this matter was another seer Abhinav Halashree Swamiji and not Rajasekharananda Swamiji.
BJP members are being cheated
While she was in the custody of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) in Bengaluru, another case was registered against her for defrauding a BJP member of Rs 5 lakh. The complainant Sudheena Pujari was a resident of Udupi district. He claimed that Kundapura duped him of Rs 5 lakh in 2015 on the pretext of helping him set up textile shops in Udupi and Kota. Sudheena claimed that she first met Kundapura in 2015 during ‘Go Raksha Samavesh’. Kundapura encouraged him to open a clothes shop after which he raised the necessary funds through fishing and other means. Sudheena claimed that she gave Rs 2 lakh in cash to Kundapura and transferred Rs 3 lakh to his bank account. However, according to Sudheena’s complaint filed at Kota police station in Udupi, the clothing shop was registered in the name of Kundapura, while Sudheena was working in Andhra Pradesh. The BJP member claimed that when he asked for his money back from Kundapura, he threatened him with filing a complaint of sexual harassment. Kota police have registered a case under sections 506 (related to criminal intimidation), 417 (related to cheating), and 420 (inducing delivery of property by fraud and dishonestly) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Facts/General Knowledge
- She won the traditional queen competition in 2014.
Chaitra Kundapura crowned traditional queen (2014–15)
- He has also written a book on Love Jihad named Prema Pasha which translates to Love Loop. Cover of Chaitra Kundapura’s book Prema Pasha
Cover of Chaitra Kundapura’s book Prema PashaCategories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn