Horticulture Minister Munirathna’s studio Vrushabhadri Productions is planning to make a biopic on Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda, the Vokkaliga chieftains who the BJP claims killed erstwhile Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan.
The production house has applied with the Karnataka Film Chambers of Commerce to register ‘Uri Gowda Nanje Gowda’ as the title of its planned movie.
Notwithstanding the view that Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda did not even exist, the duo have become the BJP’s latest mascots to target Tipu Sultan and make inroads in the Vokkaliga belt.
JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy slammed the BJP for its “hidden agenda” of "misleading" Vokkaligas. "By coming up with fictional Vokkaliga characters and saying they killed Tipu Sultan, the BJP is trying to malign the Vokkaliga community," Kumaraswamy said in a furious set of tweets.
Kumaraswamy, whose party depends on Vokkaliga votes in the Old Mysuru region where the BJP is trying to ramp up its presence, said the community is already hurt when an Uri Gowda-Nanje Gowda arch came up "to hide" the names of pontiff Balagangadharananatha Swami. The planned movie would further hurt the Vokkaligas, the former JD(S) chief minister said. "Their intention is to make Vokkaligas a permanent villain in history," he added.
The JD(S) leader wondered if BJP national general secretary C T Ravi would write the story for Munirathna's film. "And will IT/BT Minister C N Ashwath Narayan write the screenplay?" he asked.
Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje maintained that Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda were real. "There are historical references. If real history is studied, one will be that Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda fought Tipu Sultan. They fought for self respect because Tipu and his father Hyder Ali betrayed the Mysuru Maharajas. They aren't made up names. Their names are there in plays and ballads," Karandlaje, a Vokkaliga, said.
"Why are Congress and JD(S) worried? Why aren't they proud that Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda belonged to the [Vokkaliga] community?" Karandlaje said.
According to Karandlaje, Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda did not find a place in history books because "they were written as per the whims of various governments". The BJP, she said, is reviving them.
Tipu Drop
Karandlaje claimed that the famous Tipu Drop, a viewpoint at Nandi Hills, was used to kill Hindus. "That's why it is called Tipu Drop," she said. "Tipu was anti-Kannada, anti-India and anti-Hindu."