The BJP and its Sangh Parivar sisters have launched an agitation across Karnataka after a panchayat removed a "Hanuman flag" hoisted at its office by a local organisation that allegedly misused permission for unfurling the national or state flag.

Congress chief minister Siddaramaiah accused the BJP of trying to foment trouble with an eye on the approaching Lok Sabha polls.

Officials of the Keregodu village panchayat in Mandya had removed the "Hanuma Dhwaja" — a saffron flag bearing Hanuman's image — in the presence of police on Sunday.

The local body had earlier passed a resolution approving an application from the Shree Gowri Shankara Seva Trust, a socio-religious organisation, to install a 108ft flagpole on the panchayat premises. The flagpole was meant to hoist only the Tricolour or the Karnataka state flag. The trust hoisted the national flag on Republic Day, but later that evening hoisted the Hanuman flag.

Matters came to a head with several organisations, including the Dalit Sangarsha Samithi, seeking the panchayat’s permission to hoist their own flags as a mark of protest. On Saturday, the panchayat secretary ordered the removal of the Hanuman flag.

But Sangh Parivar activists gathered at the spot and kept overnight vigil. Panchayat officials were forced to wait till Sunday morning, when they called the police, removed the flag and hoisted the Tricolour. By Monday, the local protests against the Hanuman flag’s removal had spiralled into a larger agitation, with leaders and workers of the BJP, JDS and Sangh Parivar outfits protesting in several districts, including Bangalore.