Can't erase Tipu Sultan's legacy: says Owaisi on renaming Tipu Express

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said the BJP would never be able to erase Tipu Sultan's legacy. He was responding to the Railway Board renaming the train connecting Bengaluru and Mysuru. The train was earlier called Tipu Express and it has now been renamed to Wodeyar Express.

He wrote on Twitter: "BJP government renamed Tippu Express to Wodeyar Express. Tipu irks BJP because he waged three wars against its British masters. Another train could have been named after Wodeyars. BJP will never be able to erase Tipu's legacy. He scared the British while alive and scares British slaves even now."

BJP IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya responded to the statement and said the BJP does not want to erase the legacy of Tipu but wants his true legacy to be known. "Tipu was a barbarian, who inflicted untold miseries on the Kodavas in Coorg, the Syrian Christians in Mangalore, the Catholics, the Konkanis, and the Nairs of Malabar."

Wodeyar Express is named after the Mysuru royal family.

The demand to rename the train was raised by Mysuru MP Pratap Simha in a letter to Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw a few months ago. He highlighted the contribution of the Wadiyars to the development and expansion of railways in the then-princely Mysore state.

The move was slammed by many as a continuation of the BJP's name-changing spree to efface the historical legacy of Muslim rulers.