Overview

• Social Welfare Minister H. C. Mahadevappa asserted on August 3 that Tipu Sultan laid the first foundation stone at the KRS dam based on a Persian inscription at the entrance.
• Historians led by Prof. N. S. Rangaraju and MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar rejected the assertion as historically unfounded and pointed to records of the 1911–1932 project under Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar.
• BJP state president B. Y. Vijayendra and Assembly leader R. Ashoka accused the Congress government of rewriting well-documented history to court voter support and demanded documentary proof.
• Former MP Prathap Simha called for defamation suits against those he accused of misleading the public and criticized what he described as a deliberate campaign to undermine Nalwadi’s legacy.
• Despite repeated challenges, no new evidence has emerged to back the minister’s claim and the dispute continues to highlight the politicization of historical narratives ahead of Karnataka’s elections.