Bengaluru, 19 Feb

The Karnataka Assembly on Monday witnessed a heated discussion on the change of the motto of government residential schools run by the Social Welfare Department with the opposition BJP targeting the ruling Congress over the issue.

The motto of the residential schools in Kannada was picked up from a poem by Jnanpith award winner Kuvempu, which means, 'This the temple of knowledge. Enter here with folded hands.' The department allegedly changed it to: 'This is the temple of knowledge. Question boldly.' Raising the issue in the Lower House, Shikaripura MLA B Y Vijayendra, who is also the BJP state president, alleged that a principal secretary in the Department had issued directions to change the motto. He alleged that the Congress government was ''distorting the lines'' written by Kuvempu.

As the other BJP members stood up to lodge their protest, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda alleged that when the BJP was in power in the state, it removed a chapter on Kuvempu. This led to commotion for a while as the BJP sought to know whether the revenue minister was justifying the 'tampering of the motto'.

Sources close to the Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa said there was a discussion in a messaging application started by a principal secretary asking people why the motto could not be altered. He even suggested the new motto. "Some rejected it while a few others accepted it saying that the new motto encourages 'rational thinking'," a source said.