CM Siddaramaiah Advocates for Kannada as the Lingua Franca of Karnataka

At a conference celebrating the Gokak movement, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah made a fervent appeal to residents of the state to use Kannada in public and administrative settings. Addressing the crowd in Raichur on October 5, 2024, Siddaramaiah stressed that Kannada should be the language of choice outside the home, although people are welcome to use their mother tongues within their households.

The event was part of a broader campaign, Karnataka Sambhrama–50, celebrating the state’s cultural heritage and the 50th anniversary of its renaming from Mysuru to Karnataka. The Chief Minister paid tribute to the Gokak agitation, calling it a defining moment in the fight to preserve Kannada's status. He praised Dr. Rajkumar’s participation in the movement, noting that it had a lasting impact on Karnataka's linguistic identity.

Siddaramaiah, a long-time advocate for Kannada, recounted his efforts to promote the language during his political career. As the first chairman of the Kannada Kavalu Samiti, which later became the Kannada Development Authority, he has been signing official documents in Kannada since the 1980s.

The Chief Minister’s call for the broader use of Kannada comes amid efforts to make the language more prevalent in state administration. Siddaramaiah assured the public that learning other languages was not discouraged but emphasized that Kannada should remain the primary language in governance and daily interactions across Karnataka.