Explain state flag move, Cong tells Siddaramaiah

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Jul 19 2017 DH News: The Congress high command wants to know in what context Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has constituted a committee to examine whether the state can have a flag. With rival parties targeting the Congress and accusing it of encouraging separatism, the party top brass is keen to put an end to the controversy.

“The Congress does not have a policy for a state having a separate flag. I have asked the government to clarify,” K C Venugopal, AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, told DH.

Echoing the BJP’s line, he said, “The country has only one flag and that is the national flag.” The party is embarrassed by how the opposition has used the move to turn the tables on it. “The flag controversy provided ammunition to the BJP, just when we were going after them on issues such as lynching by cow vigilantes,” said a senior Congress leader. The state unit of the Congress has said it is trying to build a Kannada-pride narrative to counter the BJP’s Hindutva agenda, but national leaders have advised Siddaramaiah to end the controversy immediately.

Assembly elections are due in Karnataka next year. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said the Karnataka government’s move was “against the nation’s integrity,” and sought imposition of President’s rule in the state. “The Congress-ruled government is triggering separatism in the state,” he said, speaking to reporters here.

No provision for or against

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs said the tricolour was the only flag for India, but Karnataka had traditionally used a ‘people’s’ flag for state occasions.

“We are one nation, one flag. Legally there is no provision either for providing or prohibiting a separate flag for any state,” a home ministry spokesperson said.

Home ministry officials explained Karnataka already had a flag representing only the “people and not the government.”

The flag is not used during Republic Day and Independence Day but on occasions like state foundation day, an official said.

How it began

The controversy was triggered after Karnataka formed a nine-member committee to design a state flag and examine whether it could be given legal sanctity.