In the run-up to the assembly elections, Karnataka BJP chief Nalin Kumar Kateel kicked up a fresh row by claiming the contest was between the descendants of Tipu Sultan and the devotees of Rama and Hanuman. In a charged speech at Yelaburga of Koppal district, the state BJP chief said that the verdict of the polls should be such that the Tipu backers will be sent back home.
“We are devotees of Rama and Hanuman. We worship Hanuman, we develop Hanuman, we are not Tipu descendants, we send Tipu descendants back home,” he said.
The people should decide if Karnataka requires Tipu supporters or devotees of Rama and Hanuman, Kateel further said.
“So I ask the people of Yelaburga, do you worship Hanuman or do Tipu bhajans? So will you chase away the people who do Tipu bhajans? So take resolution today if this state requires Tipu descendants or Rama devotees and Hanuman devotees.”
Kateel went ahead to add that people who adore the former Mysore ruler should not stay here. The land is meant for people who follow Lord Rama and Hanuman instead.
“I challenge on the land of Hanuman, people who love Tipu should not stay here, people who do Rama Bhajan and celebrate Hanuman should stay here,” Nalin Kumar Kateel concluded.
Media reports claimed that Kateel had earlier called the Karnataka assembly elections was a Tipu vs Savarkar scenario. “This time, the State Assembly elections will not be fought between Congress and BJP, but between the ideologies of Savarkar and Tipu,” he had said in Shivamogga.
