“By allowing national flags of imported and polyester cloth, the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre is snatching away the livelihoods of thousands of khadi workers who are engaged in national flag making,’’ Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader, said in Hubballi on Wednesday. He was speaking to journalists after visiting the national flag making unit of the Karnataka Khadi Gramodyog Samyukta Sangh (KKGS) in Bengeri in Hubballi.
“It has been our glorious tradition to make the national flags out of khadi cloth. It reminds us of the spirit of the Independence struggle. Amending the flag code to allow synthetic cloth is to erase the memories of freedom struggle and its leaders. The BJP is making such changes only to help a few of its corporate friends. That was the motive behind its earlier decisions like demonetisation and introduction of GST and changes to the farm laws. It is unfortunate and highly condemnable,’’ he said.
“Khadi represents the spirit of India. Congress has always upheld the heritage represented by Khadi he said. While the Charkha is a symbol of Gandhiji’s philosophy of truth and non violence, the wheel is the symbol of Emperor Ashoka. We can not forget that,” he added.
Annapurna Doddamani, one of the KKGS workers, said they shared their grievances with Mr. Gandhi. He arrived at the centre in the evening. He garlanded the statues of Leelavati and Venkatesh Magadi, the founders of the Sangha.
Other Congress leaders like D.K. Shivakumar and K.C. Venugopal were present.
