The Congress has submitted a memorandum to the police to file a suo motu case against Karnataka BJP MLA Bharath Shetty for saying Rahul Gandhi should have been locked up inside Parliament and slapped for his “anti-Hindu” remarks on the floor of the House.

The BJP hardliner, who represents Mangaluru North in the Assembly, had made the remarks on Monday while addressing a public protest against the alleged anti-Hindu statement by the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

“As much as the Hindu society believes in shastraas (scriptures), it also knows how to use shastras (weapons). Only that we are in a deep slumber. But I feel Rahul Gandhi (through his words) is waking up those who are asleep. I feel that someonecould have locked him up in Parliament and slapped him,” Shetty said at the protest meeting.

He also accused Rahul of becoming “a secular when he is in Kerala and an atheist in Tamil Nadu”, but turning “into a Shiva devotee when he is in Gujarat”.

Congress leaders from Mangaluru, led by Ivan D’Souza, met city police commissioner Anupam Agarwal on Tuesday and requested him to register a suo motu case against Shetty.

“We met the police commissioner seeking a suo motu case since this is a call for violence against Rahul Gandhi and may create law-and-order problems in Mangaluru,” D’Souza, a member of the Legislative Council, told The Telegraph on Tuesday.

The commissioner informed the delegation that the police were seeking legal opinion on the matter.

He noted how even Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati of the Jyotir Mutt in Uttarakhand had clarified that Rahul had not said anything against Hindus.