Siddaramaiah slams BJP, asks how a President can read state's speech

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which reportedly called the address given by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, at the joint session of Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council on the 60th anniversary of the Vidhan Soudha, scripted by the Congress.

"Where the question of giving the speech to the President is concerned, they (BJP) are showing disrespect to the President's post," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told ANI.

"They are ignorant of so many things, they do not know anything," he further said, adding, the President's speech, whenever he addresses the Parliament, is given by the Government of India.

"How can a President read a state's speech?" he added.

In his speech, President Kovind had lauded erstwhile Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan, saying he died a heroic death fighting the British.

"Tipu Sultan died a heroic death fighting the British. He was also a pioneer in use of Mysore rockets in warfare," he said.

The statement came amid the controversy triggered few days back after the Karnataka Government planned to celebrate the birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan on November 10.

Several BJP leaders had rejected the invitation to the celebration and called it a 'shameful' event.

After President Kovind's speech, the BJP alleged that his address was scripted by the Congress, which started the state's annual Tipu Sultan birth anniversary celebrations in 2015.