The Republic Day float featuring Tipu Sultan.
Tipu Sultan became the subject of a hot debate after the Karnataka government chose to feature the 18th-century Indian ruler during the Republic Day parade in Delhi.
Tipu, known as the Tiger of Mysore, died fighting the British at Srirangapatnam near Mysore in 1799. While some revere him as a scholar and hero, others question his credentials and claim he was anti-Hindu.
Now, more than two centuries after he died, Tipu finds himself at the centre of a battle over his legacy. It started on microblogging site Twitter where tweets defending and attacking the Republic Day spectacle surfaced almost as soon as the Tipu float left Rajpath.
Soon, politicians on both sides of the fence had their own viewpoints. "This being the election year, the government of Karnataka made an attempt to make a Tipu Sultan tableau. This is highly condemnable," G Madhusudhan, a BJP leader, told NDTV.
The ruling Congress defended the decision, saying Tipu's contribution to the state made him an ideal choice for the float at the Republic Day parade in Delhi.
"He was an icon. We feel proud that he was a secular leader. He fought for the country, for social change. He uplifted the farmers," state minister DK Shivakumar said.
Meanwhile, Karnataka's celebrated playwright Girish Karnad, who wrote 'The Dreams of Tipu Sultan', called him "the greatest son Karnataka has produced in 500 years."
"Let me say that if Tipu Sultan was a Hindu, he would have been worshipped like Shivaji. Just because he is a Muslim, he is being hounded by the right-wing, and there are right-wing historians too trying to invent facts," Mr Karnad said.
Mr Karnad also called for the renaming of the Bangalore airport to Tipu Sultan International Airport.
Still, 200 years after his death, the verdict on whether Tipu Sultan was a national hero or not still remains open to interpretation and politics.