The Congress led by former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and party’s state president DK Shivakumar have threatened an overnight dharna at the Assembly premises over Minister KS Eshwarappa’s comment over the possibility of the saffron flag being hoisted at the Red Fort. This was after the Karnataka Assembly was adjourned for a second day in a row, with Congress cornering the ruling BJP demanding that Eshwarappa be sacked from his cabinet post or tender his resignation. Congress members rushed to the well of the house and started shouting slogans against Minister Eshwarappa, as soon as the Assembly commenced proceedings on Thursday. Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri managed to finish the Question Hour amidst the sloganeering and adjourned the House.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday afternoon after the House was adjourned, DK Shivakumar said, “They want to change the Constitution itself, they want to change the national flag. The minister himself is admitting what he said, but still the Governor has not sacked him. The Chief Minister has not sacked him. A case of sedition has not been filed. We are demanding that he resign immediately and a case has to be registered against him. Overnight, we will stay and sleep in the Assembly itself and protest.”
Meanwhile, Eshwarappa said there was no question of him resigning for any reason, and he was a patriot who had gone to jail during an emergency. "Let them protest, I won't budge," he said,
Eshwarappa on February 9 had made the controversial remark after the Congress had alleged that students wearing saffron shawls had hoisted a saffron flag in a Shivamogga college by replacing the national flag. In response to this, Eshwarappa had said, “They (Congress) say that the national flag was removed and the saffron flag was hoisted. I'm not ready to lie like them. We will hoist the saffron flag. Today or tomorrow, we will hoist the saffron flag at Red Fort when Hinduism comes to this country,” he said. He also said that presently the tricolour is the national flag and they will respect it.
The House was adjourned on Wednesday over the matter after the verbal fight between Eshwarappa and DK Shivakumar almost turned into a physical altercation. Both the leaders had to be restrained by the members of their respective parties. Earlier, Congress leaders staged a protest in the well of the Assembly while carrying the national flag over the issue prompting Speaker Kageri to adjourn the session for the day.
"We all should fight against anti-nationals. It is our responsibility. Eshwarappa's resignation should have been taken and he should be investigated on sedition charges. The Speaker of the House is behaving like a party person," Shivakumar had said on Wednesday.
It had started with Opposition Leader Siddaramaiah, making a preliminary submission to move an adjournment motion demanding the dismissal and filing of a sedition case against Eshwarappa over the matter. While the Speaker wanted Eshwarappa to respond to the charge, Shivakumar told Siddaramaiah that he cannot be allowed to speak. To this, Eshwarappa responded angrily that the Assembly was not Shivakumar’s ancestral property that he could decide on the matter.
(PTI and IANS inputs)