BENGALURU: The new BJP government in Karnataka has decided to drop the idea of a separate flag for Karnataka which was the brainchild of former CM Siddaramaiah. Confirming the same, Kannada and Culture Minister C T Ravi said they are not going to pursue it.
Ravi said as per the Flag Committee regulations, the national flag is standalone. "The Constitution doesn't have a provision for having another flag along with the tricolour. There can be flags culturally, for political parties and even organisations. But constitutionally it is not possible. We are approaching the Union government in this regard,'' the Minister informed the media.
In June 2017, when Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister, an order was issued by the Kannada and Cultural department to form a committee to look into the new design of the flag for Karnataka and also the legalities of the state having its own flag. Siddaramaiah even held several meetings with Kannada organisations, literary personalities, legal experts and other stakeholders for suggestions.
The idea was approved by the state cabinet and in March 2018, the then CM Siddaramaiah had unveiled it. Later this was approved by the Cabinet and sent to the Central government for its approval. This was done before the Assembly election. Later when the coalition government was formed, H D Kumaraswamy government too did not show much interest as they were caught up with many other administration issues. Now by dropping the concept, the tricolour Nada Dwaja will not be pursued.
It must be recalled that in 2012 the then CM D V Sadananda Gowda of the BJP had said that the bi-colour Kannada flag could be hoisted on all government buildings next to the national flag on November 1. A circular was also issued in this regard. However, it was challenged in the High Court, forcing them to withdraw the notification. When Jagadish Shettar was the CM, his government gave an affidavit that there was no official state flag.