Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday said likened Mysore ruler with the British, citing they were invaders.

"Both the British and Tipu Sultan were invaders. Tipu Sultan first oppressed the people of India and then the British did, which is very well written in the history of India. But there is a fact that Tipu Sultan also fought against the British," he told ANI.

The minister's statement comes amid the controversy triggered few days back after the Karnataka Government planned to celebrate the birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan on November 10.

Several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders had earlier rejected the invitation to the celebration and called it a 'shameful' event.

Union Minister of State for Skill Development Anant Kumar Hegde had conveyed to the Karnataka Government to not invite him to the "shameful" event of Tipu Sultan Jayanti.

"I have conveyed to the Karnataka Government not to invite me to the shameful event of glorifying a person known as a brutal killer, wretched fanatic and mass rapist," Hegde tweeted.

In 2016, Hegde had flayed the state government for celebrating Tipu Sultan Jayanti, claiming that the ruler was "against Kannada language and anti-Hindu".

Subsequently, Hegde was arrested for threatening to disrupt celebrations in the Uttara Kannada district.

The government's decision to celebrate the day on November 10 last year had been criticised by the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), who termed the act of the Congress as "minority appeasement".

The Siddaramaiah-led Government is all set to celebrate the Tipu Sultan Jayanti despite widespread protests and violence that had marred celebrations in the last two years.

Meanwhile, President Ram Nath Kovind had, on Wednesday, lauded Tipu Sultan, saying he died a heroic death fighting the British.

ANI

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