Mysuru/IBNS, Aug. 25 -- A row has erupted after the Congress government in Karnataka chose Booker-Prize-winning author Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the Dussehra celebrations in Mysuru, media reports said.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah last Friday announced Mushtaq, a writer from Hasaan in Karnataka, will inaugurate the Dasara festival in 2025.

Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Pratap Simha has questioned how a Muslim author has been asked to inaugurate the festival, which is not a secular event.

"This tradition in Mysuru has been going on since the time of the Vijayanagara empire. Even today, rituals are carried out in the Mysuru palace.

"Since we are now a democracy, the state government organises Dasara, but it's not an i...