BENGALURU: President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday hailed erstwhile Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan describing him as the innovator of the world's first war rocket."Tipu Sultan died a heroic death fighting the British. He was a pioneer in the development and use of Mysuru rockets in warfare. This technology was later adopted by the Europeans," said Kovind, addressing a special joint session of Karnataka legislature to mark the diamond jubilee celebrations of Vidhana Soudha , amid applause and banging of benches.His remarks gains significance in the backdrop of a growing clamour over organising of Tipu Jayanti celebrations on Nov 10 in Karnataka ahead of the 2018 assembly polls. While some BJP leaders have threatened to boycott the Tipu jayanti functions, the Congress leaders have claimed that they would hold the event at any cost.Recalling the services of political stalwarts from Karnataka, Kovind cherished the contribution of former Karnataka chief ministers including S Nijalingappa, D Devaraj Urs, B D Jatti, Ramakrishna Hegde, S R Bommai, Veerendra Patil and S M Krishna.While some MLAs reminded the President has taken the big names of former PM H D Deve Gowda among the list of former chief ministers in his speech, Kovind said: "Yes. I do remember Gowda's contribution. Gowda is not just a former PM but also a very old good friend of mine.When some wanted to name Moily too, Kovind said: I have just selected few names. That doesn't mean that others are not important. Don't get upset about it.In his speech, Kovind also said,"Both Houses of the legislature jointly and collectively represent the will and aspirations of the people of Karnataka . Not just that , the two houses also represent the ideals, optimism, energy and the dynamism of the Kannadiga people . The Vidhana Soudha building is a monument to the history of public service in Karnataka,"JD(S) boycott photo session with PrezMiffed over not following the protocol, JD(S) MLAs and MLCs boycotted the photograph session with President Ram Nath Kovind to mark the celebration of 60 years of Vidhana Soudha. " Many leaders including our own president and former chief minister Basavaraj Horatti were not given proper seating during the session," senior JD(S) leader Basavaraj Horatti charged.