New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has assailed Congress for supporting the 18th-century ruler Tipu Sultan and said that the defeat of Congress in the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka will also signal the end of "Tipu worshipers in the state".

Speaking at BJP's Parivartan Yatra in Karnataka's Hubali, the UP CM asked the people of Karnataka to defeat Congress— which had supported the celebrations to mark Tipu Jayanti in the state in November this year— in the upcoming assembly elections expected to be held in May next year.

"Gujarat aur Himachal Pradesh ne kharij kiya hai. Karnataka Congress ko kharij kar degi toh Tipu Sultan ki pooja karne wala koi nahi rahega (Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have dismissed it (Congress). If Karnataka too dismisses Congress, then no worshiper of Tipu Sultan will be left.)", he added.

Adityanath was referring to BJP's victories in the recently concluded Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat assembly elections.

Countering Adityanath's attack, state education minister Dr Sharan Prakash Patil accused him of trying to divide the society on communal lines.

"Yogi Adityanath has come to Karnataka and tried to create a rift in the society which is typical of BJP. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister should concentrate more on UPand see what is the situation of law and order there. He is not able to do good administration in UP", he argued.

BJP had objected to the celebrations calling it the vindication of a "mass rapist" and a "brutal killer".

The Congress, on the other hand, held a contradictory view on the issue. It termed Tipu Sultan a patriot, who fought against the British Empire.