Eshwarappa: ‘I have committed no wrong, I will not apologise’

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

He is one of the best known faces of the BJP in Karnataka and helped to build the party from scratch along with another veteran of saff ron politics, B.S. Yediyurappa. The Kuruba face of the BJP also has a penchant for courting controversy and has more than once been involved in unsavoury spats with Congressmen including Siddaramaiah.In the past few days, Eshwarappa is once again at centrestage-this time for his remark that the saff ron flag will sometime in the future replace the Tricolour atop Red Fort in Delhi. Congressmen were quick to grab the opportunity and have resorted to a day and night dharna in Vidhana Soudha demanding the RDPR Minister’s resignation for ‘an act of sedition’. In an interview with Shyam Sundar Vattam, Eshwarappa explains his point of view on the row.

NT: Why is the Congress Party creating a big controversy on you?
KSE: There is a general feeling among people of Karnataka that the Congress is instigating Muslims to rake up the hijab row. Naturally, Hindu youth also got active by wearing saffron shawls. So to divert people’s attention, the Congress Party has taken up the flag issue.

NT: The Congress has accused you of making a statement that you will hoist the saffron fl ag atop Red Fort in Delhi.
KSE:I never said that. I am a responsible person who has the highest respect for the national flag. Congress leaders have distorted my statement. You remember quite well what KPCC President D.K. Shivakumar said on February 8. When a few students of a government college in Shivamogga put up a saffron shawl on an empty flag post during an agitation, Shivakumar said right-wing students had brought down the national flag and hoisted the saffron flag. He went to the extent of claiming that 50 lakh saffron shawls had been ordered from a factory in Surat and were distributed among college students to instigate them to fight against hijab. The truth came out the very next day when the superintendent of police and college principal told the media that there was no national flag on the flag post and so the question of bringing it down did not arise.

NT: Is the Congress targeting you as they do not have anything else against the BJP?
KSE: You are right. They realised that the Hindu vote had become polarised after the Congress instigated the Muslim community to raise the hijab controversy. With a view to woo Muslim votes, Congress leaders are enacting a big drama. Wait and watch, it will rebound on them. In the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress led by then CM Siddaramaiah suffered a major setback for trying to divide the Lingayats and Veerashaivas. Likewise, Shivakumar will suffer a big blow for trying to divide Hindus and Muslims.

NT: Is the Congress scared of losing the Muslim vote in the 2023 Assembly polls due to the possible presence of other players like SDPI, PFI or CFI which have political ambitions?
KSE: Now what has happened in the Congress is that minority leaders like C.M. Ibrahim, Zameer Ahmed Khan and Tanveer Sait have revolted against the grand old party of India in some manner. With the minority leaders going away from the party one by one, Congress leaders in general and Shivakumar in particular are deeply worried. So, the Congress wants to bank on the support of outfits like SDPI, PFI or CFI. It is their clear-cut strategy.

NT: Despite you explaining things in detail, why are Congress leaders not ready to listen to you?
KSE: They have made up their mind to target me and are trying to portray me as anti-national. I need not prove to the Congress how patriotic I am. I love my national flag more than my life. I was one among the several leaders who went to Lal Chowk in Srinagar to hoist the Tricolour. I went to jail when the Emergency was clamped by late Indira Gandhi in 1975. Should I listen to the lectures by these Congress leaders?

NT: What will happen to serious issues like the drinking water crisis and problems associated with the pandemic if the House proceedings are disrupted?
KSE: Both Siddaramaiah and KPCC President Shivakumar are dreaming only about becoming CM and nothing else. They are not interested in discussing people’s problems.

NT: Is your statement that the saffron flag will be hoisted atop Red Fort accidental or intentional?
KSE: What I said was that in the coming days, maybe after 100 years or 300 years or 500 centuries; anything may happen. I never said that the saffron flag will flutter on Red Fort.

NT: Will you tender an unconditional apology for making that statement?
KSE: Why should I tender an apology? What mistake have I committed? I am Eshwarappa and I will bow my head in case I have made a mistake. But if the Congr