'Why can't a Tipu Sultan statue be built?' Siddaramaiah mounts attack on BJP

Siddaramaiah also referred to the BJP’s comments in the past on social reformer Narayna Guru and BR Ambedkar.

Karnataka's former chief minister Siddaramaiah has accused the ruling BJP in the state of distorting facts and twisting the history for "political benefits". He is also reported to have said that there is nothing wrong in the idea of building a statue of former ruler Tipu Sultan. “Why can't a Tipu Sultan statue be built? Let them build (it), doesn't he deserve one? The BJP has a habit of twisting history," the senior Congress leader was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

'Why can't a Tipu Sultan statue be built?' Siddaramaiah mounts attack on BJP

Siddaramaiah also referred to the BJP’s comments in the past on social reformer Narayna Guru and BR Ambedkar. “What did they say about Narayana Guru, Ambedkar and others in the past? Nothing but entirely false things,” added Siddaramaiah.

The controversy around Tipu Sultan statue erupted after Congress MLA Tanveer Sait promised to build a 100 feet Tipu statue at Srirangapatna or Mysuru. “A 100-feet-tall statue of Tipu Sultan will be constructed either in Mysuru or Srirangapatna and it will stand as a symbol of the true history of the ruler. The BJP government has been distorting the history around Tipu Sultan and is bent on running his legacy down. There is an urgent need to build his statue in the state to save the legacy of a great ruler of Karnataka," he had earlier said.

After Tanveer Sait’s promise, Sri Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik on Saturday warned that the Tipu Sultan statue will be demolished :like Babri masjid in Ayodhya, if built". Tipu Sultan’s birth anniversary celebration has been a topic of controversy in the state since 2015 in Karnataka.