Angry Over BJP Min Remark, Congress MLAs to Protest Overnight in K'taka Assembly

BJP's KS Eshwarappa had allegedly remarked that the Tricolour could be replaced with the saffron flag in the future.

File photo of Congress MLAs. 

(Photo Courtesy: IANS)

Days after KS Eshwarappa, the Panchayati Raj Minister in the state government, remarked that the Tricolour could be replaced with the saffron flag, and hoisted at the Red Fort, the Karnataka Congress on Thursday, 17 February, threatened to boycott both the houses of the Assembly in near future if no charges were pressed against him, ANI reported.

Congress MLAs will also protest overnight in Karnataka Assembly, the news agency reported later in the day. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and former CM BS Yediyurappa also met the Congress leaders but failed to convince them to call off their protest.

Eshwarappa had recently said that the saffron flag may become the national flag "after 100, 200, or 500 years".

The Karnataka Congress has been demanding that the minister be immediatedly terminated from his parlimentary duties and a sedition case be filed against him. They had given the state government a deadline of 11 AM on Thursday to respond to their demands.

'This BJP Minister is a Thug': DK Shivakumar

Meanwhile, DK Shivakumar, the state president of the Congress, called KS Eshwarappa a 'thug'.

"This BJP minister is a thug...the image of the country is at stake. They want to replace the national flag... it is against the law of the country. Still the governor has not sacked (the minister), chief minister has not sacked, and there is no sedition case," Shivakumar was reported saying by the ANI.

"We demand his resignation and that a case be registered. We will sleep in the Assembly overnight and (occupy) whole day (tomorrow) if needed," he added.

Siddaramaiah, the Congress Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, lambasted the BJP and its ideological parent RSS in a series of tweets put out on Wednesday, 16 February.

He claimed that the BJP and RSS had never "accepted the Constitution or the national-flag," and what the minister said was in fact representative of the line of thinking of the political party itself, including the prime minister.

Siddaramaiah added that "while the BJP as quick to file similar sedition charges against those who criticised it, .. no action has been taken against Eshwarappa, who made anti-national comments."

Congress MLAs to Hold an Overnight Protest in Karnataka Assembly

Meanwhile, Congress MLAs will hold an overnight protest in Karnataka Assembly over Eshwarappa's remarks.

After senior BJP leaders' meeting with the Congress MLAs in the Assembly failed to resolve the issue, Yediyurappa said:

"We tried to convince the opposition party leaders to withdraw their protest but they did not agree. We will speak to them tomorrow again."

Background

KS Eshwarappa's remarks over the saffron flag came at the backdrop of a bunch of boys hoisting the saffron flag in a school at Shivamogga, amid the protests against the wearing of Hijab by the girl students in Karnataka.

"Not today but maybe after 100, 200, or 500 years, the saffron flag may become the national flag... who knows? I don't know. People used to laugh over the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Are we not building the temple now?," Eshwarappa had said after the incident came to light.

The Karnataka Chief Minister, Basavraj Bomnai, tried explaining Eshwarappa's statements later, saying that "he meant that a saffron flag may be hoisted in 300 or 500 years, and not immediately."

(With inputs from ANI.)