Newly nominated BJP MLC H Vishwanath calls Tipu Sultan "son of soil"
Bengaluru: In a statement contrary to the party's stand, newly nominated Karnataka BJP MLC A H Vishwanath on Wednesday hailed controversial 18th century Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan as a "son of this soil" who fought against the British for freedom.
Vishwanath who defected to BJP after rebelling against the Congress-JD(S) alliance last year, also openly expressed his Ministerial aspirations.
"In the south there was Tipu Sultan, these are the people who sounded the bugle for the country's freedom, similarly Sangolli Rayanna (18th Century warrior and freedom fighter in Kittur) too, for their love towards freedom and sacrifice, we, this country have to bow down our heads," he told reporters here.
When pointed out that his party BJP has a different view on Tipu, the MLC said it was a different matter.
"Tipu Sultan does not belong to any party or cast or religion. Tipu Sultan is the son of this soil, so he should not be belittled, by limiting him to any religion," he said.
Soon after coming to power in Karnataka, the BJP government had scrapped the birth anniversary celebrations of Tipu Sultan, an annual government event the party had been opposing since 2015 when it was launched during the Congress regime led by Siddaramaiah.
The BJP and right-wing organisations have been strongly opposing Tipu, calling the erstwhile Mysuru king a "religious bigot".
Responding to a question reading the controversy involving lessons regarding plans to drop lessons regarding Tipu from school history textbooks, Vishwant said it was not dropped and was being included in the higher classes.
"We don't read properly it was shifted to other text books, the lessons were not removed. we have to read about Tipu Sultan also. We have to read about everyone including Mahatma Gandhi and others," he added.
Chapter on Tipu Sultan and his father Haider Ali were among those that had been dropped from the class 7 Social Science test books, following the Karnataka government's decision to reduce syllabi for 2020-21 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the government subsequently has asked the Karnataka Textbook Society (KTBS) to put on hold the trimmed syllabus of books that omitted chapters on Tipu Sultan, following criticism from various quarters.
Vishwanath also pitched himself for the Ministerial post, pointing to his 'vast' experience.
"I have expectations that I might be given a chance too. They should understand. I should be given (ministerial post) since there is my contribution too in BJP coming to power again," the leader said, referring to his past experience as a minister, MP and MLA.
However, he added the government had been brought to power for a better change and not merely for making them ministers.
Vishwanath, a former Minister, who was in JD(S) had defected to BJP after rebelling against the then ruling coalition, along with several other legislators.
He had subsequently lost the bypolls on a BJP ticket from Hunsur assembly constituency, which had fallen vacant following his disqualification, in December last year. He was last month nominated as a member to the legislative council.
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EC dismisses scope for wrongdoing at strongrooms; prohibitory orders around Kolkata counting centres
Kolkata (PTI): A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee spent hours at the EVM strongroom of her Bhabanipur constituency alleging possibilities of malpractices, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal on Friday asserted there is no scope for wrongdoing at the counting centres.
Following tensions around two counting centres in Kolkata late on Thursday, police clamped prohibitory orders on gatherings outside all seven strongrooms in the city.
Stating that round-the-clock CCTV monitoring of strongrooms was in place, Agarwal dismissed the allegations as "baseless".
TMC spokesperson and Beleghata constituency candidate Kunal Ghosh said that party workers and poll aspirants were keeping a strict vigil at the counting centres, where the EVMs are stored in strongrooms, upon directions of party supremo Mamata Banerjee.
"There is no scope for any wrongdoing given the arrangements made to secure the EVMs. The Centres have been kept under thorough CCTV coverage and their live-streamed footage can be seen from outside," Agarwal told reporters.
"One should have reason and evidence for making allegations," he said, maintaining that there were no grounds for levelling charges of EVM tampering or pre-counting malpractice.
Two counting centres in Kolkata witnessed high drama late on Thursday evening after TMC leaders alleged a lack of transparency and possible malpractice at the strongrooms housing sealed EVMs of the assembly polls, which concluded on April 29.
Mamata Banerjee herself landed up at the Sakhawat Memorial School counting centre and stayed put there for about four hours. She emerged from the premises past midnight and warned against any attempts to tamper with the counting process, demanding greater transparency.
TMC leaders and candidates Sashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh held a sit-in outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra counting centre on Thursday evening, alleging unauthorised activities inside the strongroom amid the absence of TMC agents.
Matters came to a head after a large number of supporters from both TMC and BJP camps gathered outside the venue, shouting slogans till they were dispersed by security forces.
The EC, however, dismissed the claim, clarifying that poll officials were engaged in the task of segregating postal ballots as per due process and the strongrooms remained secure, asserting all political parties for the mandatory segregation activity were duly notified.
On Friday, Kolkata Police imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS around all seven designated strong rooms in the city.
As per the order issued by Police Commissioner Ajay Nand, the restrictions prohibited the assembly of five or more persons within a 200-metre radius of each strongroom, along with a ban on processions, demonstrations, and carrying of weapons or explosive materials.
The measure, which aims to prevent any breach of peace, violence, or disturbance during the storage of ballot papers and polled EVMs, will remain in force until the commencement of counting on May 4.
Besides the two counting centres in question, the prohibitory orders were also clamped around the Hastings House complex, APC Polytechnic College, St. Thomas Boys' High School, Ballygunge Government High School and the David Hare Training College counting premises.
A senior police officer said enhanced security arrangements have been made at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra, the counting centre for several assembly seats in north and east Kolkata housing EVM strong rooms.
"Additional CAPFs and armed police forces have also been deployed under the supervision of an additional commissioner and a deputy commissioner of police," Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Kolkata, Rupesh Kumar, told reporters after visiting the area.
Expressing apprehension that unauthorised movements might occur when a section of postal ballots is brought in the evening, Kunal Ghosh said on Friday morning that the party's polling agents and candidates have been alerted about the matter.
Minister Shashi Panja, who also arrived at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra in the morning, maintained that "transparency" should be ensured for all strongroom activities.
Ghosh told reporters on Friday that though they had seen some movement in a strongroom that allegedly stored postal ballots, there was no such movement on Friday morning.
Meanwhile, Banerjee's challenger at Bhabanipur and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari took a dig at the chief minister for her late-night visit to the counting centre.
"I want to reassure the people of Bhabanipur and of West Bengal that the TMC candidate and outgoing chief minister was prevented from taking any additional advantage. Despite her best intentions to the contrary, she wasn't allowed to act in violation of rules," Adhikari wrote on social media platforms, posting a picture of Banerjee sitting at what appeared to be an area outside the counting centre strong room.
"Till such time she was present there, my election agent, advocate Surjyanil Das personally positioned himself at the spot keeping a tight watch on her so that she isn't able to take recourse to improper means," he added.
Security forces kept a strict vigil in and around counting centres and strongrooms in Kolkata and other districts where EVM machines used in the state assembly elections are stored, an official said.
Sakhawat Memorial School in south Kolkata's Bhabanipur, which saw high drama till the early hours of Friday with the chief minister spending several hours at the counting centre, wore a peaceful look in the morning with security personnel guarding the area.
