Tipu Sultan vs Veer Savarkar: Karnataka district tense over naming junction in Yadgir city

Tension gripped Yadgir city of the state after a row broke out over the naming of a junction after 18th-century Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan or BJP's iconic figure Veer Savarkar.

Though the authorities swung into action and brought the situation under control, the issue has taken a communal turn threatening the peace, law, and order situation.

Yadgir Municipality is run by BJP. Maintaining that Tippu circle near Hattikuni Cross is illegal, the Hindus are demanding rechristening it as Veer Savarkar.

On the other hand, fans of Tipu Sultan, mostly from the Muslim community, have declared that they won't allow this to happen at any cost.

The authorities have arrested Parashurama Shegurkar, State President of Shivaji Sena, and his followers. North Karnataka Tipu Sultan Samyukta Rang President Abdul Kareem has also been booked by the police and sources say that he is absconding.

Tipu fans maintain that the city municipality was permitted to name the circle after Tipu Sultan in 2010.

Earlier, it was called Moulana Abdul Kalam circle. However, Hindu activists claim that the circle is named after Tipu Sultan illegally without permission from the Municipality. The government has not accepted the change of name.

The Hindu activists are demanding the renaming of the circle after Veer Savarkar. They even attempted to remove the name of the circle and police had foiled the bid. The authorities had also clamped prohibitory orders.

Suresh Ambigara, President of the Municipality maintained that naming the circle after Tippu Sultan is illegal. The proposal has been sent to the government to name it after Veer Savarkar. "We will abide by the government order in this regard," he said.

As elections are nearing, the ruling BJP government is likely to accept the proposal of naming the circle after Veer Savarkar. This is going to be an issue, sources explain. (KB/IANS)