"This Election About Tipu vs Savarkar": Karnataka BJP Chief Sparks Row Ahead Of Polls

Karnataka's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nalin Kumar Kateel on Wednesday stroke a controversy by saying that the upcoming assembly election in Karnataka is all "about Tipu vs Savarkar."

Addressing the people on Wednesday, BJP state President Nalin Kumar Kateel said, "This (Assembly) election is all about Tipu vs Savarkar. They (Congress) allowed celebrating Tipu Jayanti which was not required, and spoke disgracefully about Savarkar. I challenge Siddaramaiah to discuss if our country needs a patriotic like Savarkar or Tipu."

Meanwhile, BJP state president also challenged Siddaramaiah to debate on who is important for the state Tipu or Savarkar.

"People need to understand if they need a patriotic like Savarkar or Tipu," said BJP state President Nalin Kumar Kateel.

Earlier on February 7, Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah said that the Bharatiya Janata Party is not expanding the Karnataka Cabinet as it is avoiding appointing the son of its senior leader BS Yediyurappa.

Karnataka is likely to undergo Assembly elections in April-May this year to elect all 224 members of the Legislative Assembly.

An important source of BJP said, "On the one hand, work is being done to reorganize and restructure the booth committee, so that the booth committee becomes more strong, on the other hand 'Booth Vijay Abhiyan', 'Janaspandana Rally', 'Jana Sangathan Yatra' are going on to ensure BJP's victory in Karnataka and the party leaders are continuously interacting with people through these rallies."

The sources said that the BJP believes that the organization becomes stronger by booth empowerment; if the booth is strong then the organization will remain active.

"Three months are left for the Karnataka elections. In view of the 2023 elections, all these preparations are being done and after that, we will focus on 2024," the BJP sources said.

As far as reshuffling is concerned in the Karnataka government, the BJP source said that only three months are left, so there will be no big change in it.