BJP, Congress workers clash in Pune over Tipu Sultan row

BJP workers confronted Congress activists in Pune while protesting against Congress leader Harshwardhan Sapkal’s remarks equating Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with Tipu Sultan, with the Opposition party alleging stone pelting during the agitation on Sunday.

Joint Commissioner of Police Ranjan Kumar Sharma told reporters that three Congress workers, two BJP workers, two police personnel, and two journalists sustained minor injuries in the melee, adding that the process of registering cases against both sides was underway.

“A protest was held near the Congress Bhavan, which saw sloganeering from workers of the BJP and Congress. Workers of both parties climbed onto the walls, and there was stone pelting from both sides. Cases are being registered against workers of both sides,” Sharma informed.

Pune city Congress chief Arvind Shinde said the party has submitted a written complaint to the police against BJP functionaries. A case should be registered against Mayor Manjusha Nagpure, BJP City president Dheeraj Ghate, Dushyant Mohol and other workers, Shinde added.

There was a heavy police deployment in the area as BJP workers protested outside the Congress Bhavan, condemning Sapkal’s comments that have triggered a row in the State.

A controversy erupted on Saturday over a portrait of Tipu Sultan in the office of Malegaon Municipal Corporation deputy mayor Shan-e-Hind Nihal Ahmed, which was opposed by Shiv Sena corporators and Hindu outfits.

While pointing to the valour of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and the way he presented the idea of ‘Swarajya’, Sapkal gave the example of Tipu Sultan’s call for battle against the British and claimed this was an ideal articulated on the same lines.

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Congress leader Sachin Sawant accused the BJP of “double standards” and pursuing a polarisation agenda after Sapkal faced criticism for the remark.

In a statement, the Congress spokesperson cited several instances to claim that BJP leaders had earlier supported or endorsed references to 18th-century Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan in public spaces and official forums.

He referred to resolutions in civic bodies in Akola and Mumbai, as well as past instances where BJP leaders had allegedly praised or associated with the historical figure, to argue that the party’s current opposition was politically motivated.

BJP workers staged a protest in Pune, condemning Sapkal’s remarks.

Congress has alleged that two of its workers sustained injuries as activists from the saffron party indulged in stone pelting outside the Congress Bhavan.

Speaking to PTI, Mohan Joshi, vice-president of the Congress’s Maharashtra unit, said that a large number of BJP workers, including the newly elected mayor, Manjusha Nagpure, gathered to protest outside Congress Bhavan.

“During the protest, stones were pelted at Congress workers and two sustained injuries. We are currently holding a sit-in protest outside the police station in Shivajinagar seeking action,” he said.

Krishikesh Rawale, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 1), said that the police intervened to prevent a flare-up.

BJP Pune city unit president Dheeraj Ghate has lodged a complaint against Sapkal with Parvati police station for allegedly hurting the sentiments of Hindus, and a first information report has been registered.

Tipu Sultan remains a polarising figure of history, with some invoking his bravery in the battles against the British, while others have pointed to his religious bigotry and ill-treatment of non-Muslims.

Sawant, in his statement, has claimed that the BJP earlier admired Tipu Sultan, but now calls him bad for its polarisation agenda.

“What should this hypocrisy be called? Tipu Sultan used to wear a ring bearing the name of Lord Ram,” he claimed.

The Congress leader said that the BJP was portraying Tipu Sultan negatively as part of a strategy to create religious divisions.

He also accused the ruling party of engaging in “distorted religious politics” and attempting to polarise voters, while reiterating the party’s criticism of the BJP’s stand on the issue.

Further accusing the BJP of “double standards”, Sawant cited that in 2012, the saffron party moved a resolution in the Akola Municipal Corporation to name the standing committee hall ‘Shaheed-e-Watan Sher-e-Mysore Tipu Sultan’, proposed by former mayor and current BJP Akola election in-charge Vijay Agrawal.

In 2013, BJP corporators supported a proposal to name a road in Mumbai’s M-East ward as ‘Shaheed Tipu Sultan Marg’, and even current city Mayor Ritu Tawde’s name figures among those present, he stated.

In 2001, a road in Andheri (West) was named ‘Sher-e-Mysore Tipu Sultan Marg’ in the presence of former BJP MP Gopal Shetty and party corporators, with the resolution passed unanimously, Sawant said.

BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa visited Tipu Sultan’s tomb and wrote words of praise in the visitors’ book, he claimed.

In 2017, then President Ram Nath Kovind praised Tipu Sultan in the Karnataka Assembly, the Congress leader added.