A word of praise for Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan’s heroism in President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to the joint session of the Karnataka legislature on Wednesday added to the ongoing slugfest between the Congress and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party over State-sponsored celebrations of the 18th century ruler’s birth anniversary.
Speaking at the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, the President said: “Tipu Sultan died a heroic death fighting the British. He was also a pioneer in development and use of Mysuru rockets in warfare. This technology was later adopted by Europeans.”
As soon as the President read this part of his speech, ruling party members thumped the desks, while the Opposition maintained a studied silence.
The reference to Tipu gains significance as the BJP is up in arms against the Karnataka government’s Tipu Jayanti celebrations slated for November 10.
After Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde wrote to the State government that he did not want his name printed on the invites of the celebration, a number of BJP legislators have followed suit saying they do not wish to participate in the celebration, and describing Tipu as a “religious bigot”.
The BJP and Sangh Parivar groups have planned a series of protests in the run-up to event.
Soon after the address, BJP leaders accused the Congress government of “misusing” the President’s address to push their agenda. Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council K.S. Eshwarappa and other BJP leaders alleged that the government had misled the the President. Incidentally, BJP State president and former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa declined to comment on the issue.
Reacting sharply to these allegations, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah retorted: “Do you think the State government can dictate to the President what he has to say?” He said the government had neither prepared the speech nor provided notes for it and it was the President’s “own speech” and he had uttered the “truth”. “The BJP is creating an unnecessary controversy, which is regrettable and condemnable,” he said.
Describing the criticism as an indicator of “the moral downfall” of BJP leaders, working president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Dinesh Gundu Rao said, “BJP leaders have to apologise to Mr. Kovind for denigrating the office of the President.”
Minister for Food and Civil Supplies U.T. Khader added: “By taking exception to his address, BJP is disrespecting the position of the President and the Constitution.” The former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy also said the State cannot be accused of having a hand in the President’s speech.
Pratap Simha tweets to President over Tipu
Pratap Simha, BJP MP for Mysuru, took to Twitter on Wednesday to question President Ram Nath Kovind over his remarks on Tipu Sultan during his address to the joint session of the Karnataka legislature.
The MP, known for his anti-Tipu stance, in two tweets to the official Twitter handle of the President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn), said Tipu had died “without figting” and questioned “if Tipu was the pioneer of missile technology”.
The MP’s tweets evoked sharp criticism on social media.
