Belgaum: The controversy over displaying a saffron flag on the premises of Belgaum City Corporation has been revived, owing to Home Minister M.P. Prakash's promise of taking action on the issue.

The Minister's statement indicating action against (for removal of the saffron flag) the saffron flag only if it represented or symbolised Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) provided a fresh opportunity to the MES to revive the controversy and capitalise in view of the elections due for the Belgaum City Corporation.

Some of the Kannada groups in the city have criticised the Home Minister's statement as they apprehended that such statements would only strengthen the MES. The MES had been thriving by capitalising on emotional issues, MES workers admit in private. With elections to 58-member BCC Council due, the MES would leave no stone unturned to project the Karnataka Government and Kannada-speaking people as "anti-Marathi".

The issue is apparently being communalised with MES leaders threatening of a communal flare-up in the event of the Government removing the saffron flag from the BCC office premises. What had been a linguistic issue all these years is now being given a communal colour.

The MES was yet to "declare" that the saffron flag represented the organisation and not the Hindus. It is perhaps for this reason that there was confusion within the MES camp over the identity of the flag as some of them, including former Mayor Vijay Pandurang More, who described it as a "Hindu flag".

The Dharam Singh Government superseded the BCC Council in November last, among other reasons, for violating Section 499A (1) related to official display of flags and 18 (oath of allegiance to the Constitution) of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 197, but it did not take steps to implement the provisions made under the sub-section (2) of the Act.

BCC Commissioner M.S. Channapagoudar told The Hindu on Friday that the saffron flag displayed (by the side of the national flag) on the BCC premises follows a resolution adopted by the Belgaum Municipal Council in 1958 i.e., before the establishment of BCC in 1984.

He said the BCC should get the Government's approval for "flying" a flag other than the national flag. But, there was no express provision under the KMC Act on "removal" of such flags. Hence, the status quo.

District Kannada Organisations Action Committee president Ashok Chandargi alleged that Deputy Commissioner Shalini Rajneesh did not follow up her own assurance of taking steps for displaying Kannada flag along with the tricolour and saffron flag.

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