Overview

• Chief Minister Siddaramaiah named the International Booker winner as chief guest to inaugurate the state festival on September 22, with Vijayadashami on October 2, and Mushtaq has accepted.
• BJP figures including C T Ravi, Pratap Simha, Tejasvi Surya and expelled MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal demanded she state her belief in Goddess Chamundeshwari before leading the inaugural rites.
• The government defended the choice as a cultural recognition and cited precedent, noting poet K. S. Nissar Ahmad, a Muslim, inaugurated Dasara in 2017.
• Udupi district police registered two cases over Facebook posts they said could incite communal enmity after the announcement.
• A 2023 video of Mushtaq criticizing the elevation of Bhuvaneshwari as a singular Kannada symbol resurfaced online, and Mysuru MP Yaduveer Wadiyar said he has no objection if she respects the deity and avoids offending devotees.