AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has managed to court controversy, after he decided to unveil a Tipu Sultan portrait in the Delhi Assembly on Republic Day.
This unveiling was part of a total of 70 portraits of eminent individuals, which consisted of freedom fighters, revolutionaries and heroes. Few of the portraits unveiled were of heroes like Bhagat Singh, Birsa Munda and Subhas Chandra Bose, which raises the question why did the AAP government decide to hold Tipu Sultan in the same regard.
BJP has taken a stern view of this action by the Kejriwal government and BJP MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa, has questioned as to why was a controversial figure included. Even party legislator Om Prakash Sharma has stated that Delhi Assembly should refrain from putting up a picture of a controversial personality.
In response to the BJP, AAP MLA and spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj decided to indulge in whataboutery by asking the BJP to suggest names of RSS workers who had worked towards the nation’s independence.
Apart from unveiling Tipu Sultan’s portrait, Kejriwal also decided to make a speech. He claimed that an ‘atmosphere of violence’ is being created which is making it difficult for people to lead a normal life. Kejriwal as recorded by Times Now also stated that getting independence was difficult, but now a days it seems that maintaining that independence is becoming even more difficult.
Incidentally this action of the AAP has started getting support from the Congress, with its former Karnataka Youth Congress President, thanking Kejriwal for this act:
https://twitter.com/ArshadRizwan/status/957157027314253824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Such a possible glorification of Tipu Sultan was also undertaken by the Congress government in Karnataka via the celebration of Tipu Jayanthi, which was heavily slammed by its critics.