K Surendran, the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala, who is running from Wayanad, sparked controversy on Thursday by claiming that if he wins the next Lok Sabha election, Sultan Bathery town’s name will be changed to Ganapativattam.
“Actually, the place is Ganapativattam. How many years ago did the Sultan’s invade? Who is Tipu Sultan? How is he related to the people of Wayanad? What is the importance of Tipu Sultan? That place was known as Ganapativattam. People are aware of this,” Surendran said while speaking to ANI.
The Kerala BJP chief claimed that Tipu Sultan, the former ruler of Mysore, was responsible for several religious atrocities in Wayanad and Malabar and that the location was now called Sultan Bathery by his rival political alliances, the Left Democratic Alliance led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the United Democratic Front led by the Congress.
“People know that Ganapativattam was renamed because both LDF and UDF, are with Tipu Sultan. Tipu Sultan attacked many temples, converted lakhs of Hindus in Kerala, especially in Wayanad and Malabar regions,” Surendran said.
Surendran is running against Congressman Rahul Gandhi and Annie Raja of the Communist Party of India (CPI).
Elections in Kerala, which elects 20 lawmakers to the Lok Sabha, are scheduled for April 26. On June 4, the votes will be counted.