He alleges that Congress leaders in Karnataka are trying to divide society on the lines of caste

Stoking a controversy yet again around 18th Century Mysuru king Tipu Sultan, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of trying to convert Karnataka, “the land of Bajarang Bali”, into “a land of worshippers of Tipu Sultan”.

Addressing a big gathering at the BJP’s Parivartana Yatra rally at Nehru Stadium here, Mr. Adityanath said, “It is now left to you to decide whether you want it to be a land where saints, spiritual leaders, and gods and goddesses are worshipped or a land of worshippers of Tipu.”

Accusing the Congress of indulging in what he called “divisive politics”, he gave a call to the people to reject the Congress like it had been done in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

Without making a direct reference to the Lingayat row, Mr. Adityanath alleged that Congress leaders were trying to divide society on the lines of caste in Karnataka, like they did in Gujarat, and people should give them a befitting reply by rejecting them. Earlier in the day, Mr. Adityanath visited the Moorusavira Mutt of the community.

Mr. Adityanath then went on to accuse Mr. Siddaramaiah of “lowering the dignity of the Chief Minister’s post” by failing to respect public sentiment regarding eating beef.

Lambasting Mr. Siddaramaiah throughout, Mr. Adityanath said the Karnataka government had not waived farmers’ loans taken from nationalised banks like he had done in Uttar Pradesh. “We have waived ₹36,000-crore loans of 86 lakh farmers. They (the Congress) will not waive farmers’ loans as they fear that they will be left with no money to loot from exchequer,” he said. He claimed ₹10,000 crore had been given to the Hubballi–Dharwad region by the NDA government, and that Karnataka had been allocated more funds by the Narendra Modi government than the UPA government in the past.