BJP demands renaming Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad to Ganapathivattom
Kozhikode (Kerala) (PTI): The BJP said on Thursday 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," Surendran told reporters in Thamarassery near here.
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," Surendran alleged.
He also claimed that the issue was first raised by late BJP leader 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 here.
"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 Surendran for raising the controversy of changing the name of Sultan Bathery.
Congress leader and MLA T Siddique said that 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.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
