Yathindra Siddaramaiah, former MLA and son of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has ignited a political firestorm with his disparaging comments about Union Minister Amit Shah, drawing sharp criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the Congress.

The case was registered against the Congress leaders after they took out a march to lay siege to the then chief minister Basavaraj Bommai’s residence in Bengaluru, demanding the resignation of KS Eshwarappa, who was the rural development and panchayat raj minister in the southern state at the time.

Party leaders gathered at Freedom Park here with cows. They put banners on the cows which read: “this government is not in favour of livestock”. The party also alleged that there are an inadequate number of veterinary hospitals in Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural districts with many of the existing ones having been shifted to other places.

The protest comes ahead of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's planned stage demonstration at Jantar Mantar tomorrow (Feb 7) against the Central government alleging "injustice" to Karnataka, in tax devolution and grants-in-aid over the past few years. 

The controversy sparked when the state government clarified a day ago that the Hanuman flag was removed as permission was sought only to hoist the national Tricolour and the Karnataka State flag.

The flag had been raised by government authorities, and the Chief Minister alleged that the opposition's actions were politically motivated ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Siddaramaiah said on Tuesday the Central government has insulted seven crore Kannadigas by denying an opportunity for the state’s tableau at the Republic Day parade on January 26.

"We have not done it (rescinding the Hijab ban) yet. Someone asked me a question about lifting the Hijab ban. I replied that the government is considering revoking it," said the Chief Minister.