BJP & JDS protest over removal of saffron flag: Siddaramaiah says Oppn parties are stoking trouble to gain votes in LS polls

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday accused the Opposition BJP and JDS of attempting to provoke people of Mandya district over the removal of a saffron flag (Hanuman Dwaj) with an eye on the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

He hit out at former CM HD Kumaraswamy saying the JDS leader participating in the protests betrayed his intentions to exploit the issue politically. He also targeted BJP leader R Ashoka and said the two leaders were playing up people against the government because of the LS polls.

The district administration would not have removed the flag if the people who hoisted it had adhered to the conditions that came with the permission, the CM told the media, and added that there was no government’s failure in this.


Kumaraswamy, being a former CM, had resorted to telling lies and had become a BJP spokesperson while claiming to represent a secular party, he said.

The CM said he was also a Hindu who loved people of all religions as he believed in the Constitution and in the values of co-existence and tolerance.

Deputy CM DK Shivakumar also endorsed the CM’s views saying the BJP was instigating people to establish its political base in Mandya. The BJP leaders, who lost their deposit in many constituencies, have joined hands with the JDS, and this was not going to help them in the polls, he added.

The BJP held protests in Bengaluru and Mandya against what they called the government insulting their religious sentiments. Ashok who participated in protest demonstrations at Karegodu village in Mandya, hit out at the government calling it anti-Hindu. The police arrested him, along with others.

Sections of villagers at Karegodu had hoisted the flag a few days before the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. After another group lodged a complaint, the authorities had ordered that the flag be taken down. Protests erupted Saturday night and escalated Sunday morning when the flag was removed. The government, however, has maintained that the temple trust had permission to hoist only national & state flags, not religious ones.