Karnataka elections 2023 result saw the defeat of BJP candidate and Karnataka’s school education minister BC Nagesh was defeated by Congress candidate K Shadakshari in Tumkur’s Tiptur seat.
Being the education minister, Nagesh was the state government’s face when it took the stance against young Muslim women wearing hijab in school. He was also a main force behind the saffronization of textbooks, and he was only forced to back down due to heavy criticism from the opposition, Kannada organisations, and civil society.
Shadakshari of the Congress party won the seat by a margin of 17,652 votes. The INC candidate received 46.13% of the vote at 71,999 votes, defeating Nagesh, who received 34.82% of the vote at 54,347 votes.
Nagesh was key in enforcing the prohibition on Muslim students wearing the hijab at Karnataka’s government pre-university institutions (PUC). He also did not exclude students from wearing the hijab during the state’s PUC examinations.
The hijab controversy climaxed in December 2021, when six students from the government PU college in Udupi were barred from wearing a hijab to class. The students petitioned the High Court, and ultimately the Supreme Court, to exercise their constitutionally granted right to religious freedom.
