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Nalin Kumar Kateel had earlier courted controversy after advising party workers to concentrate on issues like “Love Jihad” rather than infrastructure woes like roads and sewage canals.
Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nalin Kumar Kateel, who advised the party workers not to speak about "small issues" like roads and sewage canals in January this year and instead asked them to focus on issues like 'Love Jihad" has made another bizarre statement. The BJP MP has said that the upcoming Karnataka elections is a battle of ideologies between the former Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan and Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
Speaking at a public meeting in Shivamogga, the MP said, "This time, the State Assembly elections will not be fought between Congress and BJP, but between the ideologies of Savarkar and Tipu." He urged Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to debate over the ideals of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Tipu Sultan.
"They celebrated Tipu Jayanti, which is not required in this state and criticised Savarkar. I challenge Siddaramaiah, the next elections are (to be fought) between Tipu and Savarkar. Let us discuss, come on, if this country requires a patriot like Savarkar or Tipu?" Kateel added.
His speech at a party event held in Mangaluru became controversial after he instructed BJP workers to prioritise the issue of ‘Love Jihad’ over discussions about infrastructure and development with voters. He claimed that only a BJP government could address this issue by passing a law against it.
‘Love jihad’ is a bogey created by right-wing groups to propagate a theory that Muslim men deliberately ‘trap’ and marry Hindu women to convert them to Islam.
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