In a major embarrassment to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Government in Karnataka, his Cabinet colleague Tanveer Sait, Primary and Secondary Education Minister, was allegedly caught browsing porn photos during an official Tipu Jayanti celebrations at Raichur in north Karnataka on Thursday.
An influential local TV channel repeatedly showed Tanveer Sait sitting on the dais, where he was the chief guest to celebrate the official Tipu Jayanti celebrations, and flipping porn photos on his mobile. Tanvir Sait is the Raichur District Minister and this incident is going to have a major impact on the Siddaramaiah Government which is betting on 2018 elections.
As per the TV 9 Kannada report, the Education Minister was caught allegedly watching porn photos for over 20 minutes while he was attending an official Tipu Jayanti celebrations. However the Minister clarified that he was watching photos of Tipu celebrations held at Mysuru from where he hails. He said “It was not any porn site or anything. I was continuously getting messages and just scrolling to see what was going on across the State. I did not open any link. I was showing the Congress MP Naik the Tipu Sultan Jayanti celebrations across the State. I have not done anything wrong.” However, the video grab in the TV channel clearly shows the Minister sitting on the dais flipping porn photos on his mobile.
The Kannada channel ran the footage of the Minister viewing photographs of skimpy-clad girls on his phone while on the dais during the celebrations organised as a tribute to Tipu Sultan the ruler of erstwhile Mysore kingdom who fought against the British. The minister is seen browsing photographs of the girl while other speakers are lauding Tipu Sultan.
The Opposition BJP was quick to demand the resignation of the Minister who was caught browsing porn photographs.
BJP leader KS Eshwarappa said: "He has no moral authority to continue as a minister, he should resign immediately." This is the second such scandal that has surfaced in Karnataka in the recent times; In 2012, two BJP ministers were caught viewing porn in their mobile phones inside the legislative assembly who were made to resign. BJP MP and senior leader Shobha Karndlaje demanded his resignation.
Meanwhile the BJP on Thursday staged major protests across Karnataka demanding scrapping of celebrations related to Tipu Jayanati. Following massive protest, police imposed Section 144 in Kodagi district. Following the protests, over 100 BJP workers were taken into custody. Ahead of the celebrations in Karnataka, former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa courted arrest to protest against it. He said “We are not anti-Muslim but we strongly oppose the Tipu Jayanti programme.” The BJP observed Tipu Jayanti as black day to protest against the decision of the governmnet to celebrate Tipu Jayanti. BJP state president Yeddyurappa and other leaders were arrested and later released.
Tipu Sultan was known as the ‘Tiger of Mysore’, who ruled the Mysore kingdom from 1782-1799 succeeding his father Hyder Ali. Though Tipu was born in 1750 at Devanahalli on the outskirts of Bengaluru, his kingdom’s capital was at Srirangapatna near Mysore. Historians and eminent public personalities hold differing views on the 18th century ruler of erstwhile Mysore kingdom. Tipu is treated by some as a “religious bigot” who killed and converted people to Islam, while others consider him as a great secular ruler who fought against the British.
Yeddyurappa tweeted "Arrested while protesting against the Cong government for celebrating Tippu Jayanti. Will scrap this Jayanti within 24hrs of forming BJP government in 2018. later talking to media, Yeddyurappa said he met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to refer the case of killings of RSS and BJP workers in the state to the National investigation Agency (NIA) for a probe.
"We met Rajnath Singh and requested him to constitute a proper inquiry and refer it to the NIA for which he has agreed. We know very well that more than 18 deaths took place recently, so I don't know why he (Siddaramaiah) is bent upon celebrating Tipu sultan programme. We are holding state-wide protests against the government," Yeddyurappa said. The Congress government views Tipu Sultan as a patriot who fought against the British. However, the right wing parties find Tipu Sultan as a tyrant monarch and for his biasness against Hindus.