Karnataka CM & Deputy CM stay away from Tipu Jayanthi event as BJP protests escalate

BENGALURU: Chief Minister H.D.Kumaraswamy and Deputy CM G.Parameshwara stayed away from the official event organised at Vidhana Soudha to celebrate the birth anniversary of 18th century Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan as the BJP intensified its agitation across Karnataka.

While Kumaraswamy (JD-S) stayed away citing health reasons, Parameshwara (Congress) flew to Singapore to visit former Minister C.Channigappa who is hospitalised there. In the end, Food and Civil Supplies Minister B. Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan led the show as government representative.

In Madikeri, Kodagu district in-charge minister S.R.Mahesh (JD-S) also stayed away from the official event. The district is the hotbed of BJP protests, where several leaders including local lawmakers were arrested.


The CM stayed away, taking leave from official engagements for three days, and said he will take rest, as advised by his doctors, and spend time with his family members. The CM will not attend any official engagements today and tomorrow. He is staying at a private resort on the backwaters of Kabini in Mysuru district.



In the past, too, the CM’s party the JD(S) never spoke in favour of Tipu Jayanthi celebrations, while seeking to keep a distance away from both the BJP and the Congress. As JD(S) floor leader in the previous Congress regime, he had accused the Congress of picking Tipu for celebrations only to please the Muslim community for their votes. His party chose to steer clear of the controversy then.

But the political climate has changed, and he is heading a government backed by the Congress. Three days ago, too, the CM criticised the BJP protests and said it could stay away from the event if it did not like to be part of it.

Karnataka’s political parties are polarised over Tipu ever since the previous Congress regime led by Siddaramaiah began celebrating Tipu birth anniversary. The BJP launched a massive statewide campaign opposing it as a government-sponsored event on the grounds that Tipu, during his reign, converted many Hindu and Christians into Islam, and was a tyrant. In 2015, fierce protests in Kodagu led to police firing which killed two lives.