Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary CT Ravi has once again triggered the Tipu debate while addressing the BJP’s first Yuva Morcha meeting in Mandya being held in the run-up to the assembly elections in Karnataka.
“Shouldn’t those who chant Tipu’s name all day be taught a lesson politically? Are there no other Muslims that can be spoken of? If you really want to chant the name of a good Muslim, why not do so of (19th-century social reformer) Shishunala Sharifa or APJ Abdul Kalam? What has Tipu done for the Kannadigas?” he said amidst constant cheering from the crowds that had gathered to participate in the party’s youth convention.
The Old Mysuru region is one of the focus points of all parties competing in the upcoming Karnataka elections. The BJP, Congress, and Janata Dal (Secular) are looking at garnering as many seats as possible in the Vokkaliga-dominated region which will further help parties gain an edge over others. Such is the sway of this region in helping parties form a government, that the BJP’s biggest youth convention programme was kickstarted in Mandya on February 22.
Karnataka BJP vice president BY Vijayendra who is also the convener of the Yuva Morcha conceptions across the state in the run-up to the elections addressed the event. Ravi was speaking at this convention, which was also attended by BJP’s national president of the Yuva Morcha, Tejasvi Surya.
The BJP carefully chose Mandya, a strong Vokkaliga bastion, as the first venue for the series of youth conventions that are to be held in the state led by Vijayendra. Political statistics over the years have shown that whichever party has performed well in the Old Mysuru region, they have been able to script a political success and come to power.
Ravi asked what was the contribution of Tipu who not only destroyed temples and built mosques in their place but also attacked Hindus and forcibly converted people to Islam. He said that people fondly remember the great contributions of Sir M Visvesvaraya and the Wodeyar kings Nalwadi Krishna Raja Wadiyar and Jaya Chamarjendra Wadiyar, who gave the people of the region water to drink and irrigate their farms.
“They established the Mysuru bank and also paper and salt mills in the region. Those who keep chanting Tipu’s name, should we ask them what Tipu’s contribution has been to Mysuru and Mandya? Tipu attacked temples to build mosques. What should we do to those who touch our holy temples? Shouldn’t we teach a lesson politically to those who chant Tipu’s name ?” asked Ravi as the crowd continued to cheer him on.
Playing on the Kannada emotion, Ravi also said that Tipu forcibly introduced Farsi as the language of communication during his rule and did so in the land of Kannada where the language has been spoken over generations.
“Is Farsi the language of our forefathers? How can they call Tipu the man who loved Kannada? Those who chant Tipu’s name should be taught a lesson, again and again,” added Ravi.
Taking a dig at the JD(S) and HD Kumaraswamy and dynastic politics in the regional party, Ravi questioned whether it has been written in the Constitution that when one gets into politics, it should be about family politics.
“The Constitution says it is by the people, for the people, of the people, not as some parties have made it out to be —Kutumbadinda, Kutumbakaagi, Kutumbakoskara (of the family, by the family, for the family). They should work for the people of Mandya, not for their family,” he said.
Addressing the public meeting, the newly appointed convenor of the Yuva Morcha, Vijayendra, appealed to the people to continue to support the BJP just like they had during the KR Pete by-polls. Vijayendra played a key role in the BJP’s first-ever victory in the KR Pete and Sira assembly segments in the Old Mysuru region, during the bypolls held in 2019 and 2020, and it is considered a feather in his cap as he led the party’s win in the Congress, JD(S)-dominated seats. KC Narayana Gowda, the winning candidate from KR Pete, was one of the 18 MLAs who defected from the Congress and JD(S) to the BJP in 2019.
KR Pete being the birthplace of four-time chief minister BS Yediyurappa, Vijayendra’s father, the leader sought the people’s support in winning as many seats as possible in the Mandya-Mysuru region.
“This is the place where Yediyurappa was born and the place where the lotus bloomed for the first time. It should not stop there. Let the lotus bloom everywhere and spread its beautiful petals all over Karnataka,” Vijayendra told the crowd gathered at the grounds of the Mandya district cooperative milk producers society, also called MANMUL.
Vijayendra said that the Congress and JD(S) are sowing the seeds of caste discrimination and trying to lure legislators but have nothing to show to people in terms of development. He also took a jibe at former Congress chief minister Siddaramaiah, saying that he was taking credit for the programmes that were introduced by Yediyurappa, including the Anna Bhagya scheme.
“Nobody can stop the BJP juggernaut now and it is the youth who will help build a strong nation. That is why we have begun these conventions of the Yuva Morcha to garner your support,” he said.
BJYM national president Tejasvi Surya, who spoke about how the youth have been fired up across the country seeking change and they see it in the BJP, also had the crowds in splits when he narrated the story of a cat that gave birth to four kittens that could speak.
“The old lady whom the cat belonged to was surprised that the kittens were speaking and they kept saying ‘the Congress will come to power’. As word spread and the news reached Delhi, Rahul Gandhi sent a special flight with 8 senior Congressmen was sent to the village to capture a video of the kittens saying the Congress will come to power. When the Congress leaders reached there to film the kittens, the little ones began to say the BJP will come to power. Embarrassed, the leader shouted at the old lady as to why she lied. That’s when she told them that until now, the newborn cats had not opened their eyes when they claimed the Congress will come to power. Now their eyes have opened to reality,” Surya said.
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