Mumbai, February 16 The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Monday said Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal, by equating Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with Tipu Sultan, has unnecessarily provided the BJP with an issue.
In an editorial in Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana, the party said the BJP, as always, has given a Hindu-Muslim colour to the Tipu Sultan controversy.
The editorial further claimed that Tipu Sultan is considered a hero in Pakistan, but the Bharatiya Janata Party does not find it condemnable to allow an India-Pakistan cricket match.
A controversy erupted on Saturday over a portrait of 18th-century Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan in the office of Malegaon Municipal Corporation deputy mayor Shan-e-Hind Nihal Ahmed, which Shiv Sena corporators and Hindu outfits opposed.
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.
"It is condemnable to compare Tipu Sultan with Chhatrapati Shivaji," the Saamana editorial said.
"By equating Tipu Sultan with Chhatrapati Shivaji, Harshwardhan Sapkal has unnecessarily given an issue to the BJP," it added.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) said the BJP has honoured Tipu Sultan several times in the past and it has now dug up his grave for its own benefit and fallen into it.
It claimed the ruling party had even proposed to name a road after the Mysuru ruler.
In a related development, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also echoed the sentiment of the Sena (UBT) and said Chhatrapati Shivaji and Tipu Sultan cannot be equated.
"Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is the deity of Maharashtra and we work according to his principles. I condemn those who are trying to equate Chhatrapati Shivaji and Tipu Sultan," Shinde told reporters.
Some are trying to do vote bank politics through this issue and create a divide in the society, he said, adding the state government will try to ensure law and order is maintained.
