K’taka CM Siddaramaiah clarifies no decision yet on controversial 4% Muslim quota
Siddaramaiah’s clarification came following accusations by the saffron party that the Congress is engaging in "Muslim appeasement".
Just about a month before the state goes to polls, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah unveiled on Thursday, 8 March, a new state flag. The flag has been designed as per the recommendations of a committee headed by eminent Kannada writer Hampa Nagarajaiah.
The new flag, called ‘Naada Dhwaja’ in Kannada, is has white stripe in between two stripes of colours yellow and red. ‘Ganda Bherunda’, the state emblem of Karnataka, is in the centre. The emblem is based on the emblem of the kingdom of Mysore.
The old Karnataka flag was a bi-colour one containing only red and yellow and no emblem. The flag was, however, an unofficial one and was used usually by pro-Kannada outfits.
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Siddaramaiah had in July 2017 formed the committee under Nagarajaiah to come up with a design for the official state flag.
Hailing the new flag, Siddaramaiah tweeted that Kannada organisations have “endorsed” the historic decision of the state government and accepted the new flag.
Since a separate state flag requires the approval of the Centre, Siddaramaiah said that his government will send a proposal to New Delhi after the state Cabinet approves of the flag.
He defended Karnataka’s flag on the ground that the Constitution does not bar state flags and all states can have their own flags.
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