Ashwath Narayan is also the former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister (File)
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.
"To be very clear... we will have tricolor only. There is no question of changing," he said, when asked if there could be any reason - other than inciting disharmony - to make such a comment.
Mr Narayan also said the Congress had taken Mr Eshwarappa's remarks "out of context" and accused the opposition party of "politicising" his words because of the ongoing hijab protests.
Asked if he or his party endorsed Mr Eshwarappa's comment, he replied: "Definitely no".
The comment by KS Eshwarappa, who is Karnataka's Panchayat Raj Minister, have been heavily criticised by the Congress, with state unit boss DK Shivakumar declaring party leaders were ready to spend the night (and the next day as well) in the Assembly to make their protests heard.
"This BJP minister is a thug. BJP wants to replace the national flag... it is against the law. Still Chief Minister has not sacked (the minister) and there is no sedition case..." he said this morning.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has weighed in on the row - which comes as his government faces searching questions about its banning of the hijab in classes.
The Chief Minister had responded with a similar clarification offered today by Mr Narayan - that Mr Eshwarappa "did not say saffron flag would be hoisted immediately... but in 300 or 500 years".
Controversy over the flag comment also comes after a group of boys protesting the right of girls to wear the hijab in classrooms ran up a saffron flag in Shivamogga district to chants of 'Jai Shri Ram'.
The Karnataka High Court is hearing several petitions on this matter; this afternoon it agreed to consider another - that hijabs be allowed in classes during Fridays and the month of Ramzan.
The court's earlier interim order - religious attire be banned for now - prompted fury after it was called out as a violation of fundamental rights, and that it seemed to affect only Muslim students.