Bengaluru: Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and deputy chief minister G Parameshwara on Saturday did not attend the Tipu Jayanti celebration. Ananth Kumar Hegde, BJP leader, who had earlier voiced his opinion against the celebration, has stated that the chief minister’s action was deliberate. Hedge claimed that it was on the advice of former Prime Minister and JD(S) chief, HD Deve Gowda, that the two skipped the event, to avoid the same fate as of former chief minister Siddaramaniah.     

Hegde, in his facebook post, stated that though the event is a state-sponsored one, both the chief minister and the deputy chief minister were missing from the event. Back in 2015, Siddaramaiah had initiated the event to obtain the support of the Muslim community. However, Goddess Chamundi took her revenge against him for his behaviour and ensured that he did not come back to power in Karnataka. He declared Deve Gowda as the mastermind behind the whole plan.   

The chief minister’s office has dismissed the post by Hegde stating that Kumaraswamy was on rest as adviced by his doctor. 

Zameer Ahmed Khan, minister of minority welfare, said that Parameshwara had prior engagements in Singapore and thus could not make it to the event.

Kumaraswamy earlier had not supported the celebration. However, due to the alliance, he did not oppose the occasion this year.  

November 10 marked the 269th birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan and was the first celebration under the JD(S)- Congress alliance. DK Shivakumar, minister of water resources, BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, minister of minority welfare and Jayamal, the culture minister attended the celebrations in Bengaluru. Various districts across the state too held celebrations, while police were asked to supervise the same. 

Congress started celebrating Tipu Jayanti to honour the work that the Mysuru ruler had done for the southern region and for fighting against the British rule. BJP calls this as an act of appeasing the Muslim voters and have labelled Sultan as an anti-Hindu despot, who destroyed temples and killed Christians in Kodavas and Mangaluru.