![]() The 18th century ruler, who died fighting the East India Company, is now pitted against Rani Chennamma and others, in a bid to create a fault line. BJP chief ministers such as B S Yediyurappa and Jagadish Shettar too have in the past, celebrated Tipu Jayanthi for Mysore had emerged as a major kingdom during the sultan’s reign. The framing of Tipu Sultan in terms of his faith and as a divisive monarch is troubling and ahistorical, considering his record as a ruler of Mysore. The divisive speeches may or may not win the BJP votes, but in the long run it can do a great deal of harm to the state’s record in privilleging liberal, secular values. Siddaramaiah, in particular, has been their target as he had attacked the BJP campaign in the state as communal. Narayan spoke soon after state BJP chief Nalin Kumar Kateel, and before him, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, invoked Tipu as a symbol of anti-Hindu politics. Unfortunately, Narayan’s remark is representative of the polarising rhetoric deployed by many senior BJP functionaries to mobilise voters. ![]() Higher Education Minister C N Ashwath Narayan has since regretted his remarks in the legislative assembly. A senior minister of the BJP government in Bengaluru recently said at a public rally that the leader of Opposition and former chief minister, Siddaramaiah, should be “finished off” just like Tipu Sultan was. ![]() The political discourse in Karnataka is getting coarser by the day. ![]()
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