Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that a Bill will be introduced in the upcoming legislature session to make 60% use of Kannada mandatory in signboards of commercial establishments. The Budget session is set to start on February 12. This followed Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot returning an Ordinance to this effect, which was passed by the State Cabinet.
Meanwhile, the Raj Bhavan office on X has clarified that the Governor had not “rejected” the Ordinance but only “returned” it to the State government “with advice to present it before both Houses of the State legislature.”
Earlier in the day, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had appealed to the Governor to reconsider passing the Ordinance. “Language is an emotional issue for Kannadigas. Neither the citizens nor any political party has raised any concern regarding the Ordinance and hence I appeal to him to reconsider the Ordinance once again,” he said.
‘No political reason’
Meanwhile, Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi dismissed any political reasons for Ordinance being returned by the Governor.
“Since the legislature session has been scheduled it has been returned so that it can be approved by both houses of legislature. The ordinance had been sent on January 5, before the dates were finalised. Because the Governor was ill and was also travelling, he could not sign,” said the Minister.
“There is no need to do politics in this regard. Governor will not act with any motive on issues of land, water and language concerning the State. The Ordinance has been returned due to technical reasons,” he said.
