No invitation for MPs, MLAs who are against Tipu Jayanti gala: Siddaramaiah
, ET Bureau|
Updated: Nov 08, 2017, 02.47 PM IST
The oneupmaship between Congress and BJP over the state celebrations of the birth anniversary of Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan on November 10 has peaked with chief minister Siddaramaiah directing all the deputy commissioners of Karnataka’s 30 districts to not include in the invitation the names of MPs or MLAs who have stated they don’t want to participate.
This follows a formal request from three BJP MPs -- Union skill development minister Anantkumar Hegde, Shobha Karandlaje and Suresh Angadi -- not to print their names in the Tipu Jayanti event, as per protocol. “The CM has directed the DCs that they should leave out the names of whoever has formally stated that they don’t want to participate,” home minister Ramalinga Reddy told ET.
Both parties have used the Tipu Jayanti to consolidate their bases, which has become more crucial in the runup to the state assembly polls six months away. While Siddaramaiah started the celebration of the ruler in 2013, in an effort to underline his secular credentials and also because he hails from the Mysuru region that flourished under Tipu, the BJP has been opposing it on the grounds that Tipu killed several Tamil Brahmins who spied on him for his overlords and that he allowed his army to rape and pillage all surrounding regions.
State BJP co-spokesperson S Prakash told ET that the 17 MPs, 44 MLAs and 11 MLCs belonging to his party will not participate in the event, though most of them had not formally said so to the state government. “Even last year, none of them participated in the event. What is the need to say this further.? Our party is opposed to the celebration of Tipu Jayanti and none of our representatives will be part of it, whether the government includes their name or not.”
Reddy dismissed the political fallout of the celebrations. “We are celebrating 26 Jayantis along with Tipu’s. It is not a political move on our part at all. The BJP is politicising it. But their own leaders B S Yeddyurappa, Jagadish Shettar, C P Yogeshwar, R Ashoka and Shobha Karandlaje have celebrated Tipu and praised him in their speeches and in Shettar’s case, through a book foreward. Isn’t the opposition now showing their double standards?”
The state government has allowed the RSS and other right wing organisations to hold seminars and discussions on Tipu that have fuelled a social media frenzy ahead of the event. However, no permission would be given for protest rallies or dharnas anywhere across the state on Tipu Jayanti in the interest of maintaining law and order, Reddy said.
Security arrangements have been tightened in all districts, even as BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa is going on a 75-day Parivathan Yatra to drum up support his party. “We have put tough officers to oversee the arrangements. Particularly in Kodagu, where there was trouble two years ago and in Dakshina Kannada, where the Yeddyurappa is holding a rally in Suratkal on that day," Reddy said.
This follows a formal request from three BJP MPs -- Union skill development minister Anantkumar Hegde, Shobha Karandlaje and Suresh Angadi -- not to print their names in the Tipu Jayanti event, as per protocol. “The CM has directed the DCs that they should leave out the names of whoever has formally stated that they don’t want to participate,” home minister Ramalinga Reddy told ET.
Both parties have used the Tipu Jayanti to consolidate their bases, which has become more crucial in the runup to the state assembly polls six months away. While Siddaramaiah started the celebration of the ruler in 2013, in an effort to underline his secular credentials and also because he hails from the Mysuru region that flourished under Tipu, the BJP has been opposing it on the grounds that Tipu killed several Tamil Brahmins who spied on him for his overlords and that he allowed his army to rape and pillage all surrounding regions.
State BJP co-spokesperson S Prakash told ET that the 17 MPs, 44 MLAs and 11 MLCs belonging to his party will not participate in the event, though most of them had not formally said so to the state government. “Even last year, none of them participated in the event. What is the need to say this further.? Our party is opposed to the celebration of Tipu Jayanti and none of our representatives will be part of it, whether the government includes their name or not.”
Reddy dismissed the political fallout of the celebrations. “We are celebrating 26 Jayantis along with Tipu’s. It is not a political move on our part at all. The BJP is politicising it. But their own leaders B S Yeddyurappa, Jagadish Shettar, C P Yogeshwar, R Ashoka and Shobha Karandlaje have celebrated Tipu and praised him in their speeches and in Shettar’s case, through a book foreward. Isn’t the opposition now showing their double standards?”
The state government has allowed the RSS and other right wing organisations to hold seminars and discussions on Tipu that have fuelled a social media frenzy ahead of the event. However, no permission would be given for protest rallies or dharnas anywhere across the state on Tipu Jayanti in the interest of maintaining law and order, Reddy said.
Security arrangements have been tightened in all districts, even as BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa is going on a 75-day Parivathan Yatra to drum up support his party. “We have put tough officers to oversee the arrangements. Particularly in Kodagu, where there was trouble two years ago and in Dakshina Kannada, where the Yeddyurappa is holding a rally in Suratkal on that day," Reddy said.
