The quarrel that broke out between the BJP and the Congress over remarks made on the national flag took another turn, as Congress lawmakers decided to spend the night in the Karnataka legislative assembly on Thursday (February 17) to demand the resignation of K S Eshwarappa, minister of rural development and panchayat raj.
This decision was announced by Karnataka leader of Opposition, Siddaramaiah, who told reporters that they have decided to hold an overnight protest and “take this to its logical end. We will protest day and night.”
According to the Siddaramaiah, Eshwarappa has committed treason. He has insulted the national flag that is a symbol of our pride and the nation’s sovereignty, added Siddaramaiah, according to media reports. The Congress MLCs will also spend the night in the legislative council premises.
Earlier this month, on February 9, Eshwarappa had declared that the national flag will be replaced by the saffron flag in the future adding that the they would hoist the saffron flag everywhere. “Today or tomorrow, India will become a Hindu nation. Even at Red Fort…” Eshwarappa had said.
History of legislative assembly sleepovers
This is not the first time the lawmakers are resorting to this kind of a protest. In 1996, the assembly hosted one of its first sleepover protests when the BJP, who was then in the Opposition, objected to a steep hike in electricity tariffs introduced by the J H Patel government. In 2010, it was Congress’ turn to camp at the assembly overnight when the BJP was in power to protest against the illegal mining scam that had rocked the state at that time.
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In July 2019, the BJP, then in the Opposition, had slept for a night at the assembly to agitate against the delay by the then CM H D Kumaraswamy in taking a trust vote.
The Congress now is demanding the resignation of Eshwarappa from the cabinet for making such a controversial statement and a sedition case to be booked against him. The BJP and the Congress nearly came to blows over this issue during the ongoing legislative assembly session on Wednesday.
Siddaramaiah maintained that Eshwarappa has conveyed the hidden agenda of the RSS. The national flag is the symbol of our independence and freedom fighters had drawn courage and inspiration from the tricolour. “We have a flag code to prevent any insult to the tricolour,” pointed out Siddaramaiah. In these circumstances, media reports speculated that the BJP government may decide to curtail the ongoing session. The session is expected to end on February 25.
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Hijab ban issue: Hearing adjourned once again
Meanwhile, the tensions arising from the hijab issue continued to simmer in the state, as the three-judge bench of the Karnataka high court on Thursday adjourned the hearing on petitions filed against a ban on the hijab in educational institutions till Friday.
Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice JM Khazi adjourned the hearing after state advocate general Prabhuling Navadgi sought time to respond to the petitions. The AG conveyed to the court that he was waiting for some state government orders.
During the proceedings, advocate Vinod Kulkarni, whose petition is under consideration, told the court that the hijab issue is creating hysteria and affecting the mental health of Muslim girls and he sought interim relief to allow the girls to wear hijab at least on Friday.
Meanwhile, chaos reigned in educational institutions as authorities refused entry to hijab-wearing students prompting several girls to return home without attending classes.