No Congress hand in President praising Tipu Sultan: Siddaramaiah

With the BJP claiming that President Ram Nath Kovind praising Tipu Sultan was a Congress ploy, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that the President's speech was not prepared by the state government.

President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday endorsed controversial Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan, saying the Sultan died historic death fighting the British. President praised Tipu Sultan's sacrifice while addressing a joint session of Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council on 60th anniversary of Vidhan Soudha.

After this senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister KS Eshwarappa said, "The speech was a deliberate attempt by the Congress to make the President praise Tipu Sultan."

Siddaramaiah insisted that Kovind's speech was his own.

"We have not prepared the President's speech. We have not even sent any note to the Rashtrapati Bhavan," he said in a statement.

The BJP has vehemently opposed the clebrations of Tipu Jayanti in Karnataka. Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde had reportedly called Tipu a "brutal killer, wretched fanatic and mass rapist".

OneIndia News