UDUPI: A political row has erupted in Udupi after Deputy Commissioner (DC) Swaroopa T.K. waved a saffron flag to flag off the Paryaya Mahotsav procession on Sunday.
The BJP has warned of a siege of the District Congress office if any action is initiated against the DC.
BJP Udupi district president Kutyar Naveen Shetty said the party would launch an agitation if the state government acts on the Congress memorandum seeking action against the Deputy Commissioner for waving the saffron flag during the Paryaya procession in the presence of seers of the Udupi mutts.
Shetty alleged that the Congress-led state government was consistently pursuing “anti-Hindu” policies and targeting Hindu activists to appease communal forces. He said the attempt to turn the waving of the saffron flag during the Paryaya procession into a controversy and to target DC Swaroopa T.K. was unfortunate.
Blaming the developments on what he described as the indifferent attitude of Udupi district in-charge minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Shetty alleged that she had not convened a single preparatory meeting for the Paryaya Mahotsav. He said Hebbalkar’s decision to stay away from the event—widely regarded as a major cultural festival of coastal Karnataka—amounted to an insult to the people of Udupi.
Shetty also questioned whether the Congress would have demanded the resignation of Hebbalkar had she herself waved the flag. He accused the party of displaying “intellectual bankruptcy” by seeking action against the Deputy Commissioner and attempting to demoralise her.
Former energy minister and Karkala MLA V. Sunil Kumar also criticised the Congress, asking whether a Congress flag or a green flag should have been displayed instead of a saffron flag during a Hindu religious procession. Calling it a reflection of a “petty mindset,” he objected to the district Congress committee writing to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar seeking action against DC Swaroopa T.K.
Congress leaders, however, maintained that government officials must adhere to constitutional principles and secular norms. The Udupi District Congress Committee’s Legal and Human Rights Cell wrote to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seeking action against DC Swaroopa T.K. for holding a saffron flag. In the letter, the Cell’s president, Harish Shetty, termed the act “grave misconduct” and sought an inquiry and appropriate action against the Deputy Commissioner.
Responding to the controversy, DC Swaroopa T.K. clarified that she had participated in the procession from Jodukatte to the Krishna Mutt in her capacity as the administrator of the Udupi City Municipal Council.