Much like going after Aurangzeb in Gujarat, the BJP has zeroed in on Tipu Sultan as the fall guy in Karnataka. Five months before the southern state goes to polls, both the opposition BJP and the ruling Congress seem to have decided that Karnataka will be Gujarat redux. Vikas will continue to take a break as caste and religion will hold centrestage.

It all began a few months ago when Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah decided to hurt the BJP where it would hurt the most. He backed a proposal to give separate religion tag outside of Hinduism to the Lingayats. The community with 17 per cent population in Karnataka has traditionally backed the BJP, motivated in a large measure by the presence of BS Yeddyurappa, the tallest Lingayat leader in the state.

The Lingayats are classified as Other Backward Class in Karnataka and follow the teachings of Basaveshwara, a 12th century social reformer. Basavanna, as he is popularly called, fought against the inequalities in the Hindu social order by establishing a different religious stream called Veerashaivism and that is what has led to the argument that the Lingayat religion is distinct from conventional Hinduism. The Congress party’s support to the proposal has created divisions within the community, much to the annoyance of the BJP which cannot afford to lose the votebank.

Even if Siddaramaiah does not follow up on what he has said, the carrot of the possibility that he would do so, could make some Lingayats vote for the Congress. The lure of a separate religion status has a financial angle to it. A minority religion status will confer upon educational institutions run by Lingayat owners, financial advantages in the form of waivers. Political analyst Sugata Raju points out that realising that they have been checkmated by Siddaramaiah’s moves to build a caste narrative, the BJP has decided to respond by proactively building a religion narrative.

Enter Yogi Adityanath, the poster boy of the BJP when it comes to the syllabus of Hindutva. The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister was the star attraction during the BJP’s Parivartana Yatra through Karnataka and he converted the BJP vs Congress electoral battle into one between Lord Hanuman and Tipu Sultan.

“If Karnataka dismisses Congress in one go, no one else will come to worship Tipu Sultan,” said Adityanath. He added, “I am sure that by bringing the BJP back to power in Karnataka, you will make it clear that in India, Hanuman, saints and great spiritual leaders will get worshipped, not Tipu Sultan.”

Yogi’s emphasis on Hanuman was based on the belief that the monkey god was born in modern-day Karnataka. According to one theory, Hanuman was born on Anjaneya Hill in Hampi. Another myth states he was born in a cave in a hill near Gokarna on the coast of Karnataka. Other stories point to his birthplace in Maharashtra.

On a TV show on Friday, BJP leader Narender Taneja rhetorically questioned whether it was appropriate to celebrate Tipu in the land where Hanuman was born. The intention is to paint Tipu as a Muslim ruler, and not as one of the first rulers who fought against the British. The BJP template is to force the Congress to defend its celebration of Tipu Jayanti so that it can brand the party as one obsessed with Muslims and use the polarisation to win the Hindu vote. The jury is out on whether this template that has worked in the north, will work south of the Vindhyas.

Not everyone in the Karnataka unit of the BJP too will be comfortable with this strategy being foisted on it by its north Indian leadership. That is because beyond the rhetoric, the state leaders know not every Hindu looks at Tipu as a Muslim bigot but as a brave son of the erstwhile kingdom of Mysore.

But just like in Gujarat, what the religious offensive has done is to reduce the debate into who is a better or bigger Hindu. “What is my name – Siddarama,” pointed out Siddaramaiah. “There is Rama in my name. We celebrate Rama Jayanti, Hanuman Jayanti and also Tipu Jayanti. We celebrate everyone’s jayanti. ”

Ideally, given the Congress’s not-very-impressive track record in handling the drought in Karnataka, the agrarian distress or the civic mess in Bengaluru, the BJP should train its guns squarely on its development report card. But its decision to play the religion card in response to Siddaramaiah’s caste gambit means Karnataka will see a campaign of vilification, with name-calling hitting the headlines.