"Eshwarappaji Made It Very Clear...": Karnataka Minister To NDTV On Flag Row
NDTV
Furore over the minister's comment come in the wake of controversy over the Karnataka government barring Muslim students from wearing a hijab in classrooms
Karnataka minister CN Ashwath Narayan on Thursday defended his colleague KS Eshwarappa's comment - that a saffron flag could replace the tricolor as India's national flag 'someday' - claiming the remark had been taken out of context and politicised by the opposition Congress.
A former Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Narayan told NDTV the comment was a hypothetical response to a question asked at a public event and that the minister had clarified his remark.
He also insisted that neither the BJP nor the minister want to replace the national flag.
"Minister has made it very clear he has not made this kind of statement. He has not said that... (he) just said, when asked, that in the future it can happen (after many years). You can't say, today we are going to replace national flag... (but) it can happen after 500 years, 1000 years..." he said.
