A lone police constable stands holding an umbrella in the blistering heat at the ASI-protected property in Karnataka’s Seringapatam, about 30 minutes from Mysuru. It is where his body was laid to rest and found over 200 years ago, when he took on the British but was killed. He was taken and buried at the dargah about 15 minutes away.
There is suddenly some activity at the samadhi. Tipu Sultan’s kin have come to offer tributes. ‘Sahebzada’ Mansoor Ali Tipu, married into the family, walks in with his wife and children. The constable does not even recognise them and stops them to check their identity and lets them go.
Mansoor says ahead of the assembly elections, all the political parties have ignored Tipu Sultan, the “brave hero who took on the British”. Earlier in the day, Karnataka Congress president visited the Chamundeshwari temple nearby to offer prayers. He then announced that should the Congress return to power, the party will set up a committee to ensure temples dedicated to Hanuman come up across the state.
“He could have easily come here to pay tribute. But chose not to because the Congress wants to cater to soft Hindutva and stay away from Tipu Sultan,” Mansoor says. However, it was the Congress under former chief minister Siddaramaiah that had celebrated ‘Tipu Jayanti’ much to the chagrin of the BJP.
The BJP has resented Tipu Sultan’s description as a hero because the party feels that he attacked Hindus and, therefore, was “anti-Hindu”. But the Congress has insisted on the Muslim ruler being a valiant hero. He was also important for the Congress to strike a chord with the Muslim population with Mysuru and adjoining areas that have been a JD(S) stronghold with the BJP making inroads.
Had it not been for the Bajrang Dal ban fiasco, the Congress would perhaps have been there to offer their tribute. But with a clear desire to do damage control, it saw sense in staying away.
Mansoor says, “Tipu Sultan has always been used politically, which is unfair. I don’t know why the BJP does not see him as a hero and calls him anti-Hindu. The Congress has been disappointing.”
Mysuru is also the Vokkaliga belt. It is for this reason and in a bid to woo this powerful community that the Congress made a leader from the community, DK Shivakumar, the state Congress chief. This time, in its first list, the BJP declared 41 Vokkaliga candidates alone but the community has not been as impressed by the saffron camp in the past.
The BJP hopes to undercut the hold and popularity of the Dewe Gowda family in this region. And the Congress, by skipping Tipu, hopes to strike a fine balance between wooing Muslims and weaning them away from the JD(S) while also pushing for “soft Hindutva”. But will it only upset the cart for the grand old party?
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