In Rahul Gandhi's Constituency Wayanad, A Name Change Demand Over Tipu Sultan

The BJP said today that the name of Sulthan Bathery town, associated with Tipu Sultan in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, should be changed, as the place was originally known as Ganapathivattom before the Mysore ruler's invasion of the Malabar region of Kerala two centuries ago.

The issue was raised by the BJP state president, K Surendran, who is contesting against the sitting MP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, as well as CPI leader and ruling LDF candidate Annie Raja in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.

"Ganapathivattom is the true name of Sulthan Bathery. Its name change is necessary," Mr Surendran told reporters in Thamarassery.

Raking up the issue of Tipu Sultan's Malabar invasion during his election campaign, the BJP leader alleged that the Congress and LDF prefer to refer to it as Sulthan Bathery.

"Why should such a place in Kerala be named after an aggressor?" he asked.

"In reality, the place is Ganapathivattom. How many years ago did the Sultan's invasion occur? Who is Sultan? What is the significance of Tipu Sultan regarding Wayanad and its people?"

"That place was known as Ganapathivattom. People are aware of this. Congress and the LDF are allied with Tipu Sultan, who converted lakhs of people in Kerala, especially in Wayanad and Malabar," Mr Surendran alleged.

He also claimed that the issue was first raised by late BJP veteran Pramod Mahajan in 1984.

According to Kerala Tourism, Sulthan Bathery was earlier known as Ganapathivattom.

"The place owes its new name to the erstwhile ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, who during his invasion of the Malabar region dumped his ammunition and parked his artillery battering in an old Jain temple in Kozhikode."

"The place was hence known as Sulthan Bathery which is a corrupted form of Sultan's battery. Tipu Sultan also built a fort here, which is in ruins now and a police station stands on the mounds of the fort now," a Kerala Tourism website said.

The Congress mocked Mr Surendran for raising the controversy of changing the name of Sultan Bathery.

Congress leader and MLA T Siddique said that Mr Surendran can say anything.

"He is not going to win; it is just an attempt to grab public attention. It is not going to happen, and there is no value attached to his statement," he told a news channel.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)