9 injured in Congress-BJP clash over Tipu Sultan praise; Congress accuses BJP of double standards

Pune: A violent clash between Congress and BJP workers near Congress Bhavan left nine people injured on Sunday, sparking from a controversy over Congress leader Harshwardhan Sapkal’s remarks equating Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s vision of ‘Swarajya’ with Tipu Sultan’s call to battle the British.

Joint Commissioner of Police Ranjan Kumar Sharma told reporters that three Congress workers, two BJP activists, two police personnel, and two journalists sustained minor injuries during the melee. “A protest was held near the Congress Bhavan, which saw sloganeering from workers of BJP and Congress. Workers of both parties climbed onto walls and there was stone pelting from both sides,” Sharma explained. Cases were registered against workers from both parties at Shivajinagar police station later that evening.

Pune Congress chief Arvind Shinde filed a written complaint against BJP functionaries, demanding action against Mayor Manjusha Nagpure, city president Dheeraj Ghate, Dushyant Mohol, and others. Congress Maharashtra vice-president Mohan Joshi told PTI that a large BJP crowd, including the new mayor, gathered outside Congress Bhavan. “During the protest, stones were pelted at Congress workers and two sustained injuries. We are currently holding a sit-in protest outside the police station in Shivajinagar seeking action,” Joshi said.

BJP Pune city president Dheeraj Ghate lodged a complaint against Sapkal at Parvati police station for hurting Hindu sentiments, leading to an FIR. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 1) Krishikesh Rawale noted police intervention prevented escalation, amid heavy deployment.

The tension traces to Saturday’s uproar over a Tipu Sultan portrait in Malegaon Municipal Corporation deputy mayor Shan-e-Hind Nihal Ahmed’s office, opposed by Shiv Sena corporators and Hindu outfits.

Sapkal, while praising Shivaji Maharaj’s valour and ‘Swarajya’ concept, cited Tipu Sultan’s anti-British battle cry as a parallel ideal.

Maharashtra Congress leader Sachin Sawant accused BJP of “double standards” and a “polarisation agenda,” pointing to historical saffron endorsements of Tipu, a polarizing 18th-century Mysuru ruler—celebrated by some for bravery against the British, condemned by others for religious bigotry and mistreatment of non-Muslims.

Sawant highlighted: In 2012, BJP’s Vijay Agrawal (now Akola election in-charge) proposed naming Akola Municipal Corporation’s standing committee hall ‘Shaheed-e-Watan Sher-e-Mysore Tipu Sultan’. In 2013, BJP corporators, including current Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde, backed naming a M-East ward road ‘Shaheed Tipu Sultan Marg’. In 2001, Andheri (West)’s ‘Sher-e-Mysore Tipu Sultan Marg’ passed unanimously with BJP MP Gopal Shetty present.

He added former Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa praised Tipu at his tomb, and in 2017, then-President Ram Nath Kovind lauded him in Karnataka Assembly. “What should this hypocrisy be called? Tipu Sultan used to wear a ring bearing the name of Lord Ram” Sawant asked, decrying BJP’s “distorted religious politics” to divide communities.

(Inputs from PTI)