Row over Tipu Sultan reaches Delhi as Kejriwal unveils Mysore ruler’s portrait in Assembly on Republic Day

After dominating Karnataka politics for a few years, the row over Tipu Sultan reached Delhi on Friday as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal unveiled a portrait of 18th century Mysore ruler on the Republic Day.

Tipu Sultan’s portrait was among 70 other personalities, including revolutionaries, freedom fighters, and heroes, unveiled by the Delhi CM as he criticised the “atmosphere of violence” disrupting normal life in the country.

The portraits of Ashfaqullah Khan, Bhagat Singh, Rani Chennamma, Birsa Munda and Subhash Chandra Bose were also unveiled. The portraits will be put up in galleries of the Delhi assembly.

These portraits are two-and-a-half feet long, and one-and-a-half feet wide mentioning the description of the personality in brief and their contribution towards the nation.

Putting up Tipu Sultan’s portrait in the Assembly has become a point of contention with the BJP opposing the move. BJP legislator Om Prakash Sharma said the Delhi Assembly should refrain from putting up the portrait of a controversial personality.

The opposition, however, did not go down well with Assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel, who said the BJP leaders “always try to create controversy on any issue”.

“I want to tell them (BJP) that the Constitution of India also carries a picture of Tipu …read more