Karunanidhi fought for the Right to hoist tricolour for chief ministers and made this idea a reality

It is often one man's vision that changes the course of a society or brings forth a shift in a perception that has been accepted and not thought much about. M Karunanidhi was one such man and his vision about people, country and his state became the driving force for many a momentous change that took place during his life and times.

One such path-breaking change is the chief ministers of the states enjoying the right to hoist the tricolour. A practice that looks absolutely part of the Independence Day celebrations in the country in the present scenario was not so before 1974. It was the governor who had the official right to hoist the flag and even though there were earlier objections by chief ministers in the country about it, none had the passion or the drive to fight for this change.

In 1974, then chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi questioned the central government's policy of that allowed the governor, and not the chief minister, to hoist the Indian flag. He argued that why should a governor who is elected by the central government and has no roots in that particular state be given the right to hoist the flag instead of the chief minister who is the representative of the people of that state?

Karunanidhi called this practice a discrimination against the chief ministers and the federal structure of the nation. He wrote a letter in 1974 to the then prime minister Indira Gandhi demanding that the protocol be changed and the chief ministers be allowed to hoist the national flag on Independence Day.

Such was his fervor for this cause that he started a nationwide movement, promoted debates and made the entire country sit up and think about the absurdity of this protocol. Additionally, he also studied the rights of a state as per the Indian Constitution and sent his recommendation to the central government.

As they say, some logic can never be failed, ignored or counter-argued. Such were his arguments that finally the government had to accede to the demands. The Central government changed the rule and the chief ministers are now entitled to hoist national flag on the Independence Day.

M Karunanidhi was not only the visionary to get this rule changed but he also became the first chief minister in India to hoist the national flag. On 15 August 1974, Karunanidhi became the first Tamil Nadu chief minister to hoist the national flag at Fort St George in Chennai.

So this Independence Day, as the Prime Minister hoists the tricolour at the Red Fort while the chief ministers do the same in their respective states, let us remember the man who pioneered this thought and fought well to make it into a reality.