Will oppose naming Haj Bhavan after Tipu: Shobha Karandlaje

Bengaluru: Food and Civil Supplies Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahamed Khan, who also holds the portfolio of Haj, said on Friday that he hoped to change the name of the Haj Bhavan in the city to Tipu Sultan Bhavan.

Mr Khan told reporters that the proposal had been pending since the last Haj and he would take a decision on it in consultation with senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwar.

Meanwhile, the BJP, which is hunting for issues to put the Congress-JD(S) coalition government on the mat, has found one in Mr Khan’s statement that the government is considering renaming the Haj Bhavan after Tipu Sultan.

Bharatiya Janata Party MP and general secretary Shobha Karandlaje said the BJP will launch an agitation if the Haj Bhavan is renamed as ‘Tipu Sultan Bhavan.’ "It is anti-Islam to rename Haj Bhavan. The BJP government not only gave three acres of land for it but also laid the foundation stone when D.V. Sadananda Gowda was chief minister,” she said.

“One month has passed since the government assumed office but it is not bothered about tackling the flood situation. But now, it wants to engage in appeasement politics. People have taught a lesson to former chief minister, Siddaramaiah who tried this trick. During the first Tipu Jayanthi celebrations, Kuttappa died and many other BJP workers were ‘fixed’ in different cases. Mr Zameer Ahmed had created a ruckus during the foundation laying ceremony of  Haj Bhavan. Now, he wants to rename it, we will oppose any move to do this," she said.