Pak PM's tweet on Tipu sparks battle of words

Bengaluru: A tweet by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tipu Sultan triggered a war of words between senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah and BJP’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Sunday, with the former saying he was not the one to “eat biryani” with the Premier of an enemy country.

Mr Siddaramaiah’s comment came in the wake of Mr Khan’s tweet on Tipu Sultan, the 18th-century ruler of the erstwhile Mysore kingdom.

Paying tribute to Tipu Sultan, Mr Khan tweeted on Saturday, saying he admired him because “he preferred freedom and died fighting for it rather than live a life of enslavement”.

Retweeting Mr Khan’s message, BJP MP Chandrasekhar wrote, “Dear @siddaramaiah avare — time for u (you) to hug Imranji n (and) Bajwaji - @sherryontopp! Thts (That’s) quickest way to bcm (become) @Rahul Gandhi n (and) @priyankagandhi’s favourite! #JustDoIt.”

His jibe was aimed at Mr Siddaramaiah’s reverence for Tipu Sultan. The Congress leader had started the tradition of celebrating Tipu Jayanti as then chief minister of Karnataka three years ago.

Slamming Chandras-ekhar, Siddaramaiah tweeted, “Mr @rajeev_mp, Think before you tweet. I am not like your Chor @narendramodi to eat biryani with the PM of our enemy country & also not like you to compromise on ethics to please your bosses. It is better to lead a life of Tipu Sultan than like a slave of your bosses like you.”