Mysuru: Senior BJP leader, R Ashok warned on Monday that the BJP would hold a state-wide protest against the Tipu Jayanti celebrations in the state on November 9.
“Let them arrest us if they dare,” he added, speaking to reporters here. Claiming there was a conspiracy afoot to create communal clashes during the celebrations, he alleged that the KFD and PFI would create turmoil. “There is evidence to prove that in the past a few people from Kerala came to the state to create trouble during Tipu Jayanti. The state government will be directly responsible for any violence that breaks out,” he said, demanding, “Why does it want to celebrate Tipu Jayanti? Is it for votebank politics? Is it to woo Muslims? If so, why doesn’t it celebrate the birth anniversaries of Dr Abdul Kalam or Shishunaala Sharief? It does not want communal harmony. Tipu had killed Kannadigas. He kept the Wadiyar family (Mysuru royals) in darkness for decades.”
Meanwhile, Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha declared on Monday that he would not participate in the Tipu Jayanti celebrations in Mysuru and Kodagu.
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, he said he had conveyed his decision to the deputy commissioners of both districts and asked them to drop his name from the invitation cards.
