Karnataka Leader of the Opposition, Siddaramaiah, Image credit: PTI
Bengaluru: The new row and controversy in Karnataka, stemming from the name of 18th Century ruler Tipu Sultan, is a state minister calling for a "finish off" of former Chief Minister of the state Siddaramaiah, NDTV reported.
NDTV quoted Karnataka Higher Education Minister CN Ashwath Narayan from a recent public gathering: "Do you want Tipu [Sultan] or [Hindutva ideologue VD] Savarkar? Where should we send this Tipu Sultan? What did Nanje Gowda do? You should finish him (Siddaramaiah) off the same way."
In an atmosphere of aggressive verbal exchanges between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress to gather maximum votes, the right-wing groups are using the Muslim ruler to polarise the state population. They claim that Tipu Sultan did not die fighting the British but was murdered by two Vokkaliga chieftains, Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda.
After the statement by Narayanm, Karnataka Congress has filed a police complaint against him as well as state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel, who called for killing Tipu's followers and chasing out his descendants to forests.
On Thursday, ex-CM Siddaramaiah accused Naranyan of attempting to incite people to kill him. He urged CM Basavaraj Bommai to sack the minister immediately. Then dared Narayan to "get the gun" himself rather than instigating people.
In a series of tweets by him, he further said that since no action has been taken against the minister, it should be understood that Bommai's cabinet has no intention to do so and is in agreement with Narayan.
He wondered whether Gujarat BJP culture has crept into Karnataka too. He questioned whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi would remain silent as he was during the 2002 Gujajarat riots.
However, Narayan claimed that when he said "finishing off," he meant that people should defeat Siddaramaiah in elections but never meant physical harm.