BENGALURU:
A film studio owned by film producer-turned-politician and Horticulture Minister Munirathna is said to be contemplating making a movie on Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda, the Vokkaliga chieftains, who according to a section of people and some ruling BJP leaders, allegedly killed erstwhile Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan.
Munirathna’s studio ‘Vrushabhadri Productions’ has applied with the Karnataka Film Chambers of Commerce to register the movie title ‘Uri Gowda Nanje Gowda’, film industry sources said.
The move assumes significance ahead of Assembly polls in Karnataka, due by May.
A section of people in the old Mysuru belt claims that Tipu did not die fighting the British, but was killed by the two Vokkaliga chieftains, which has been contested by some historians.
While, Congress and JD(S) leaders have maintained that Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda did not even exist, and they might just be a fictional characters, the BJP, which is trying to make inroads into the Vokkaliga dominated ‘Old Mysuru’ region ahead of polls, seems to be using the duo as their latest mascots.
BJP is also using them to target Tipu Sultan, and to accuse the Congress and JD(S) of indulging in appeasement politics, by celebrating the Muslim ruler.
Charging the BJP with ‘misleading’ Vokkaligas, by using fictional characters and saying they killed Tipu Sultan, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy in a series of tweets has alleged that attempts are on to malign the community.
This is part of a “hidden agenda” by the BJP to “insult and politically end” Vokkaligas, through a smear campaign, he said.
Vokkaligas constitute the major vote base of the JD(S).
However, senior BJP leader and Union Minister of State (MoS) Shobha Karandlaje said that Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda were real, and there were historical references about them.
Claiming that the names of Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda are there in plays and ballads, she said, they fought Tipu to safeguard the family of Mysuru Maharajas and to protect the state.”Why are Congress and JD(S) worried?” PTI
