Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddharamaiah yesterday clarified to the Congress top brass that the State Government has not taken any concrete decision to have a separate flag for the State.
“The Chief Minister clarified that the State Government has just formed a Committee to study the legalities of having a separate flag following requests from some pro-Kannada activists. We have not taken any decision and the panel will have to first submit its report,” Siddharamaiah has told the party High Command.
K.C. Venugopal, AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka, who had sought an explanation from the Chief Minister, confirmed that the CM has sent his clarification.
Meanwhile, Karnataka’s Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T.B. Jayachandra said that the Government’s proposal to give legal status to the ‘Kannada flag’ was a “legal grey area” and it was in no hurry to decide on the issue.
“There is no intention on the part of the State Government to create a controversy on the proposed State flag issue. There is no legal bar on the State having its own flag, just like theS State anthem.”
Though there is no specific mention in the Constitution on States having their own flags, there is no bar on it, he said. “The Committee will examine all aspects of the issue. It is a legal grey area,” he told reporters.
This post was published on July 20, 2017 6:57 pm