Within the BJP ecosystem in Karnataka’s coastal districts, Yashpal Anand Suvarna is a rising star – as a cow vigilante, an ABVP leader, a Bajrang Dal activist, the general secretary of the BJP National OBC Morcha and, by all accounts, a future MLA.

The 44-year-old is also the vice-president of the Development Committee of the Udupi Government PU Girls’ College which is at the heart of the hijab row, who on Wednesday called the six students who moved court over the matter “terrorists”. Suvarna says he stands by his statement as those who do not follow the law of the land are “anti-nationals”.

His political career apart, Suvarna’s clout has also aided the family’s fishing business, set up by his father after quitting work at a bank. For the past 13 years, Suvarna has been president of the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts’ Cooperative Fish Marketing Federation. The saying goes that in coastal Karnataka, whoever controls the seas, controls the region. The OBC community that Suvarna belongs to, Mogaveera, is largely employed in fishing.