Karnataka wants its own flag, appoints panel to look into legal sanctity

Ahead of the assembly elections in 2018, the Congress-led government in Karnataka has formed a panel to look into the legal sanctity to get its own flag.

A nine member committee has been formed to design a 'state' flag and submit a report on giving it legal sanctity, reported Times of India.

The move by the Siddaramaiah government marks a departure from Karnataka's 2012 stand when the BJP was in office.

The then government had told the court that it had not accepted suggestions to declare the red-and-yellow Kannada flag the official state flag, as that would go against the 'unity and integrity of the country'.

"The committee must ready a design for a separate state flag and submit a report on providing it a legal sanctity," reads the order signed on behalf of the governor by G Annapurna, under secretary of the Kannada and culture department.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah defended the demand for a separate flag for the state, asking if there is any provision in the Constitution that prohibits the state from having its own flag.

"Is there any provision in the Constitution which is prohibiting a state to have its own flag? Did BJP people come across any provision,"Siddaramaiah said.

Jammu & Kashmir is the only state to have its own flag as it enjoys a special status under Article 370 of the Constitution.