Bengaluru/New Delhi: A day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dared Prime Minister Modi to become a true Kannadiga by approving the official flag for the state, the Home Ministry clarified that the state’s request has been put on hold as the election code of conduct has came into force for the upcoming Assembly polls to be held on May 12.

“The request for a separate flag was received from Karnataka. Since the election code of conduct has come into force, the consideration has been put on hold,” an official spokesperson said.

On Monday, a day before Modi’s visit to the southern state for election campaigning Siddaramaiah took to Twitter and questioned Modi if he would approve the state flag now that he had declared himself as a Kannadiga.

“Congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has declared himself a Kannadiga. Becoming Kannadiga means accepting Kannada language, naada geete (state anthem), naadadwaja (state flag). “Will you become true Kannadiga by giving approval to Karnataka’s nada dwaja? #AnswerMadiModi,” Siddaramaiah tweeted in Kannada.

Further he questioned if the PM will resolve the Mahadeyi water dispute and if Kannadigas would be allowed to write bank entrance examinations in Kannada.

It may be recalled that on 8 March this year, Siddaramaiah had unveiled the proposed ‘Naada Dhwaja’ (official state flag) as per the recommendations of a committee headed by eminent Kannada writer Hampa Nagarajaiah. The state’s flag, in hues of yellow, white and red, has the state’s emblem ‘Gandaberunda’, a two-headed mythological bird, at its centre.

However, since a separate state flag requires the Centre’s mandatory approval, the state government had forwarded to the proposal to the Centre,