KARNATAKA: Nalin Kumar Kateel, the Karnataka BJP chief  has urged the public to ‘kill’ all the ‘ardent followers’ of Tipu Sultan, the 18th-century ruler of Mysore. He said that Tipu Sultan's descendants should be chased out and sent to the forests.

Kateel’s comment comes as the Karnataka assembly polls is less than 3 months away. By asserting that the next assembly poll in Karnataka was all about "Tipu vs Savarkar", Kateel had sparked controversy earlier in February.
Kateel caused a stir when he said that individuals who worship the 18th-century Mysuru emperor Tipu Sultan should not reside in Yelburga in the Koppal district but rather those who sing devotional songs for Lord Rama and Lord Hanuman.

"We are Rama and Anjaneya's followers (Hanuman). We carry out Anjaneya's tasks. We are not Tipu Sultan's offspring. The children of Tipu will be brought home by us, "said Kateel.

As the crowd cheered, Kateel asked, "I want to know if the Yalaburga residents worship Anjaneya or sing Tipu Sultan's praises. Will you not send those singing Tipu's praises into the forest?"

The Koppal region's Anjaneya, which is said to represent the monkey kingdom portrayed in the Hindu epic Ramayana, was referred to by the BJP politician as "Kishkindha Kshetra." Hanuman is said to have been born on Anjanadri, the hill that belonged to his mother Anjana.

Kateel aid, D K Shivakumar, the state president of the Congress, had a special place for Mohammed Shariq. In November 2022, the alleged cooker bomb that Shariq was holding exploded, injuring both him and the autorickshaw's driver. Shariq is a suspect in the Mangaluru cooker explosion.

Shivakumar allegedly referred to Shariq as innocent and naive after the arrest, according to Kateel. He made fun of the Congress leader by asserting that the latter had a profound affection for two different types of cookers, one from Mangaluru and one from Belagavi. Kateel brought up a rumour that a Congress politician seeking to contest in the upcoming assembly election had given away free cookers in Belagavi.

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