The controversy surrounding the State-sponsored Tipu Jayanti celebrations hotted up on Saturday with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah lashing out at Union Minister of State for Skill Development Anantkumar Hegde and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Shobha Karandlaje for their decision to not be part of the event on November 10.
In his response soon after, the Union Minister told reporters at Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district that if indeed he was to take part in the celebrations, he would “shout slogans” against Tipu Sultan.
Mr. Hegde had earlier written to the State government saying that his name should not be mentioned in any of the invitations for the Tipu Jayanti celebrations, which the BJP has been opposing since the time it became a State-sponsored event in 2015.
In response to this, Mr. Siddaramaiah said his name would figure as per protocol and invitation would be sent out to all Central and State leaders. “It’s up to them to accept or reject,” he said.
“Being part of the government, Mr. Hegde shouldn’t have written such a letter. It is not correct to turn this into a political issue,” he said. He cited the four Anglo-Mysore wars between Tipu Sultan and the British colonial rulers and said that the king of Mysuru should be celebrated.
Several senior BJP leaders on Saturday joined the chorus of boycotting the celebrations. Ms. Karandlaje and former Deputy Chief Minister R. Ashok said they would not participate.
‘individual call’
Interestingly, State BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa clarified that the leaders’ stand to not participate was an “individual call”. When asked if it was also the party’s official stand, he declined to comment.
Mr. Ashok came down heavily on the State government for organising Tipu Jayanti, which he termed was “a deliberate attempt to stoke communal tension in the State”.
Ms. Karandlaje termed it “a blatant attempt at vote-bank politics by the Congress.” She also claimed that a majority of the district police officials had tried to convince the State government to not hold Tipu Jayanti functions in view of law and order issues, but the government was adamant on the celebrations.
