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.
