Notorious for making controversial statements, Karnataka BJP chief Nalin Kumar Kateel has urged people to put to death any ardent supporter of Tipu Sultan, the emperor of Mysore who ruled in the 18th century. He has said that the descendants of Tipu Sultan should be chased away and sent to the jungle. Kateel's comments come less than three months after the Karnataka assembly elections.
Kateel had earlier courted controversy in February by saying that the next assembly election in the state was about "Tipu versus Savarkar".
Kateel by declaring that those who sing devotional songs to Lord Rama and Lord Hanuman should live in Yelaburga in Koppal district and not those who believe in 18th century Mysore emperor Tipu Sultan.
Kateel said, "We are devotees of Rama and Anjaneya (Hanuman). We do the work of Anjaneya. We are not the children of Tipu Sultan. We are the ones who will take Tipu's children home."
As the crowd cheered, Kateel asked, "I want to ask the people of Yalburga – do you worship Anjaneya or sing the praises of Tipu Sultan. Won't you banish those who praise Tipu to the forest?"
The BJP leader referred to Anjaneya in the Koppal region, which is said to be the monkey kingdom depicted in the Hindu epic Ramayana as the "Kishkindha region". In Anjanadri, the hill of Hanuman's mother Anjana, it is also believed that Hanuman was born there.
According to Kateel, DK Shivakumar, the state Congress president, had a soft spot for Mohammad Shariq. Shariq, a suspect in the November 2022 Mangaluru cooker bomb blast, suffered injuries along with the driver of an autorickshaw when the alleged cooker bomb exploded.
Kateel claimed that after his arrest, Shivakumar had described Shariq as innocent and gullible. He mocked the Congress leader by claiming that the Congress leader was deeply in love with a Belagavi cooker and a Mangaluru cooker. Kateel referred to the alleged free distribution of cookers in Belagavi by a Congress functionary hoping to contest the upcoming assembly elections.
Kateel mocked Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, claiming that the "people's leader" has not found a constituency for himself to contest.
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