Varanasi police book MPs Rahul Gandhi, Pappu Yadav and Awadesh Prasad for 'insulting Sanatan Dharma'
A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered at Kotwali police station in Varanasi on Saturday (August 1, 2026) against Leader of Opposition (LoP) in
A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered at Kotwali police station in Varanasi on Saturday (August 1, 2026) against Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and two Members of Parliament — Pappu Yadav and Awadhesh Prasad — for allegedly insulting Sanatan Dharma and hurting religious sentiments during an Opposition protest in Parliament. The FIR was filed under Sections 299 and 302 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The police registered the case around 2 p.m. on Saturday (August 1, 2026), acting on a complaint filed by Jagadguru Balak Das, the head of Patalpuri Math.
In the petition, the complainant alleged that deliberate and malicious acts were performed, intended to outrage religious feeling outside the Parliament House in New Delhi. Rajesh Ranjan, popularly known as Pappu Yadav, is an Independent MP from Purnia constituency in Bihar, while Awadhesh Prasad is the Samajwadi Party MP from Faizabad seat in Uttar Pradesh. Seer Jagatguru Balak Das said the manner in which Mr. Pappu Yadav insulted Lord Ram and Sanatan Dharma in the House was unforgivable. "No follower of Sanatan Dharma can forget this act. It has hurt our religious sentiments.
So we have demanded that a case be registered," he said. On Friday (July 31, 2026), INDIA bloc MPs, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party president Rahul Gandhi, held a protest against the donation theft at Ram Temple in Ayodhya as well as the police action against student agitators during their July 20 Parliament march. The Opposition MPs enacted a skit to highlight the temple donation theft. As part of this, they placed donation boxes in front of the stairs leading to the Makar Dwar of Parliament. The MPs, including Mr. Rahul Gandhi, put money into the boxes, while a saffron-clad Pappu Yadav, who sat near the boxes, slipped it into his pockets.
The INDIA bloc MPs also demanded Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation and questioned his absence from House proceedings. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party's Awadhesh Prasad and Dharmendra Yadav, and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Mahua Maji were among those who participated in the protest, standing behind a big banner that read, "Amit Shah sadan se gayab kyun?" (With PTI inputs)
The BriefWire