Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma hit out at the Congress Saturday for a second time in less than 24 hours while campaigning for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in poll-bound Karnataka. Sarma accused the opposition party of trying to make the southern state a 'Popular Front of India (banned by the government last year over links to terror activities) valley' and aimed fresh barbs at Karnataka Congress leaders DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah.
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"DK Shivakumar is a family member of Tipu Sultan. If Congress will regain power, Karnataka will become a PFI valley," Sarma thundered at a rally in the state's Kodagu district.
The Tipu Sultan reference was to a row in March when the BJP converted the 18th century ruler and his battle against the British into an election issue, casting him as a tyrant who terrorised the Hindu community of the time and forcefully converted thousands, pitching him against VD Savarkar and declaring that it was two chieftains from the influential Vokkalinga community who killed him and not a combined British-Maratha army.
In a video shared by news agency ANI, Sarma claimed Assam had been attacked by the Mughals but the northeastern state repelled multiple attempts at invasion. Similarly, the people of Karnataka's Kodava (from Kodagu district) had defeated Tipu Sultan several times and 80,000 had sacrificed their lives, the Assam chief minister also claimed.
{{/usCountry}}In a video shared by news agency ANI, Sarma claimed Assam had been attacked by the Mughals but the northeastern state repelled multiple attempts at invasion. Similarly, the people of Karnataka's Kodava (from Kodagu district) had defeated Tipu Sultan several times and 80,000 had sacrificed their lives, the Assam chief minister also claimed.
{{/usCountry}}"Now Siddaramaiah ji says he will celebrate Tipu Sultan's birth anniversary. Go to Pakistan, Bangladesh if you wish to celebrate his jayanti but you have no right to do that in India," he added.
Apart from Sarma, several BJP leaders have made vicious claims using this poll plank, including Lok Sabha MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, who is the party's state boss. In February Kateel declared 'those who are ardent followers of Tipu should not remain alive on this fertile soil'.
Earlier today Himanta Sarma also slammed the Congress over 'The Kerala Story' movie row. He demanded to know why the opposition party had supported the British Broadcasting Corporation's controversial documentary on Modi but criticised 'The Kerala Story'.
READ | Congress wants to ban ‘Kerala Story’ but not BBC film on Modi: Sarma
Meanwhile, the Congress released its Karnataka manifesto Tuesday and likened right-wing group Bajrang Dal to the now-banned PFI, triggering yet another furious war with the BJP.
This was followed by union home minister Amit Shah declaring said each vote for the BJP would protect Karnataka from the PFI.
Karnataka votes for a new government on May 10 (Wednesday) with results due May 13 (Saturday).