Tipu Sultan Row Resurfaces After Proposal To Rename Mysuru Airport

Ahead of the 2018 election too, the BJP dug out Tipu Sultan; BS Yediyurappa slammed the Congress' move a "gimmick" to appease Muslims, who were then 13 per cent of the total population.

Tipu Sultan is, once again, at the centre of a Congress vs BJP squabble in Karnataka, after a MLA from the ruling party proposed naming the airport in Mysuru (which is also called Mandakalli Airport) after the 18th century ruler. "I propose the naming of Mysuru Airport to Tipu Sultan Airport," Prasad Abbayya, the Hubballi-Dharwad (East) MLA said during a discussion on changing airport names.

The statement triggered howls of protest from the opposition BJP, which pitched the 'Tiger of Mysore' into a Hindu vs Muslim narrative, against its icon, VD Savarkar, ahead of the May election.

The BJP was trounced in the election, winning just 66 of the state's 224 seats.