President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday heaped praise on former Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan, saying he died a "historic death" fighting the British, sparking a fresh war of words between the ruling Congress and BJP in Karnataka.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged the speech had been "scripted" by the Congress, but Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the President's speech had not been prepared by the state government.
President Kovind's praise for the former Mysore ruler came days after Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde, a BJP leader, called Tipu a "brutal killer, wretched fanatic and mass rapist", ahead of the state's Tipu Jayanti celebrations to mark his birth anniversary on November 10.
The BJP has been opposing the celebrations calling Tipu "anti-Hindu and anti-Kannada".
In his speech, the President referred to Tipu Sultan as a "pioneer" in the development of Mysore rockets (iron-cast rockets for military use) and said that he died a "historic death" fighting the British, leaving BJP leaders fuming.
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Recalling the contributions of Karnataka's former rulers, politicians and scientists in the growth of the state and the country on the whole, the President spoke of Tipu Sultan, leading to loud applause from a majority of the legislators.
"The speech was a deliberate attempt by the Congress to make the President praise Tipu Sultan," senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister KS Eshwarappa said after the joint session of the state legislature marking the diamond jubilee of Vidhana Soudha.
But Siddaramaiah insisted that Kovind's speech was the "President's own".
"We have not prepared the President's speech. We have not even sent any note to the Rashtrapati Bhavan," the Chief Minister said in a statement.
"Some leaders are unnecessarily creating a controversy out of the issue. It is very unfortunate and condemnable," he said.
Attacking BJP state President and former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, Siddaramaiah questioned why the leader had taken part in Tipu Jayanti celebrations earlier.
"When Yeddyurappa was a part of Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) (which was once headed by Yeddyurappa), he took part in a function dressed as Tipu. (BJP leader) Jagadish Shettar had written a preface to a book on Tipu calling him a 'patriot'. Why are they against Tipu now?" he asked.
Karnataka Working President of the Congress Dinesh Gundu Rao said the BJP was only "insulting" the President by criticising his speech.
"They (BJP) are only insulting our country's President," Rao told media here.
The Janata Dal-Secular leaders from the state meanwhile expressed disappointment over the President's speech missing out mention of former Prime Minister and JD-S leader HD Deve Gowda, while naming the former chief ministers from the state.
Following the President's speech, state JD-S chief HD Kumaraswamy was seen boycotting the photo session of the legislators with the President.
The Chief Minister stated that it could have been "unintentional" that the name was not mentioned by the President.
The ruling Congress began celebrating Tipu's birth anniversary since 2015, which led to violent protests by right-wing organisations in the Mysore region and other parts of the state.
Known as the 'Tiger of Mysore', Tipu Sultan ruled the Mysore kingdom from 1782-1799 succeeding his father Haider Ali.
