BJP's narrative on Rs 100 crore grant for Urdu is misleading, communal: Siddaramaiah
Tuesday hit back at
over its criticism of the govt's allocation of Rs 100 crore to foster Urdu, accusing the opposition party of deliberately stoking communal tension.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
BJP had criticised the move, ridiculing Congress with posters and memes that were widely shared on social media.
Clarifying the intent behind the allocation, Siddaramaiah, said: "Rs 100 crore is to upgrade Urdu-medium schools with better classrooms, teachers, textbooks, and infrastructure. This is not just for language, but for the overall improvement of schools that serve many students. We demand that BJP immediately issue a public clarification and apologise to the people of the state for this dangerous and divisive propaganda.
"
He lashed out at BJP for linking the grant to religious appeasement. "This is a deliberate attempt to incite communal tension," he said.
Emphasising that no language should be reduced to a religious or caste identity, Siddaramaiah said, "Linking a language to a particular caste or religion is disrespectful to that language," and added, "the Karnataka govt respects all languages of the state."
He pointed out that his govt supports multiple regional languages through dedicated academies.
"That is why we have separate academies for Tulu, Konkani, Kodava, Byari, and Arebhashe, each of which gets a grant of Rs 80 lakh a year, plus extra funding for cultural activities," he said.
Rejecting BJP's allegation that Kannada is being sidelined, Siddaramaiah said, "They are spreading a false narrative that the state govt is neglecting Kannada and giving more funds to Urdu. This is not just far from the truth — it is a deliberate attempt to create communal tension.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
It is unfortunate that a national party is acting like irresponsible internet trolls and spreading such baseless lies."
To underline the govt's support for Kannada, Siddaramaiah listed major allocations, saying: "For 2025-26, the govt has allocated Rs 34,438 crore to the department of primary and secondary education; Rs 4,150 crore to schools under the social welfare and other departments. That's a total of Rs 38,688 crore.
All meant for Kannada-medium education. In addition, Rs 999.3 crore has been set aside to maintain govt schools and improve infrastructure.
All of this is to support Kannada education. So, when BJP claims that only Rs 32 crore is given to Kannada, it is clearly a political lie meant to mislead the people."
Siddaramaiah also highlighted institutional support for Kannada through a dedicated department. "For Kannada, the govt has a dedicated department of Kannada and culture, which runs 14 academies, three authorities, and 24 trusts named after Kannada writers," he said. "They work to promote the Kannada language, literature, and heritage. For Congress, Kannada is not just a language, it is our identity, pride, and mother tongue.
Our govt has always stood firmly for Kannada, for Karnataka, and for our people. We will never compromise on protecting our land, water, or language. And we will never tolerate disrespect towards our culture."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
13 minutes ago
- India Today
West Bengal launches Rs 8,000 crore initiative to address local civic issues
The West Bengal government on Saturday launched a new outreach programme called Amader Para, Amader Samadhan (Our Neighborhood, Our Solution) to address local civic issues such as roads, drinking water, street lighting and initiative began on Saturday with 632 camps set up across the state on the first day. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that over 27,000 such camps will be held over the next 60 days, covering more than 80,000 polling this Rs 8,000 crore initiative, the state has allocated Rs 10 lakh per booth. Residents can visit their local camps with their voter ID and submit written complaints along with their name, address, ward number, booth number and mobile number. The government has committed to resolving the registered issues by November 15, following a 30 day administrative review after the camp period ends. The camps are set up to directly engage with residents, allowing them to report and prioritise local like street light installation, small road repairs, drinking water supply, renovation of water bodies, repair of schools and community halls, construction of toilets in slums and area beautification are being prioritised.'Duare Sarkar' service counters are also included in the camps to help with state-run scheme programme is being monitored by a task force led by Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, with district-level teams supervising the Kolkata Municipal Corporation area, one camp serves every two booths. The government has urged residents to participate and track updates at where they can also see how booth-level funds are being Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also shared a glimpse of the initiative on her social media account on its first day. While explaining the motive behind the initiative, Banerjee wrote, 'Today, on the first day of 'Amader Para Amader Samadhan' (APAS) 632 camps are being held across the State. Duare Sarkar counters have also been set up in APAS Camps.''I invite the people to visit their camps and participate in the discussions to make APAS a grand success. I also thank the concerned government officials and other stakeholders for their efforts in the smooth roll out of the campaign,' she officials will be physically present in every locality to listen to grievances, register demands, and oversee the process, which will likely span over two to the government, this initiative is designed to improve service delivery by listening to people directly and involving them in local-level planning. The effort is part of a larger push toward participatory governance in the lead-up to the 2026 Assembly elections.- EndsMust Watch IN THIS STORY#West Bengal#Mamata Banerjee
Hindustan Times
35 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
RG Kar victim's parents urge all non-TMC parties to join Nabanna Abhijan march on August 9
Grief-stricken parents of the RG Kar medical college victim on Saturday said they were reaching out to different political parties to join the August 9 Nabanna Abhijan (march to West Bengal secretariat) demanding justice for the medic who was raped-murdered at her workplace exactly one year ago. Victim's father said that, from SUCI (Communist) to CPI(M), Congress and BJP — we are urging all parties, except TMC, to join this rally for justice (ANI) The parents had been requested by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari to be part of the march on August 9 where no party flags would be carried and the only slogan will be 'We demand justice'. Adhikari told reporters that he and other BJP leaders would participate in the rally, calling for a thorough investigation into the larger conspiracy behind the incident and demanding that all perpetrators involved in the heinous crime be brought to justice. The victim's father, speaking to reporters in Sodepur, near Kolkata, said: "From SUCI (Communist) to CPI(M), Congress and BJP — we are urging all parties, except TMC, to join this rally for justice — not just for our daughter, but for every woman who has been brutalised." Asked why the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) was being excluded, he alleged: "Because TMC leaders and the administration tried to hush up the investigation into my daughter's death and attempted to dispose of her body at the earliest." Responding to the family's allegations, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said, "While we sympathise with the parents of the RG Kar victim, what they are saying is unfortunate. Their actions appear to be prompted and influenced by certain quarters." Ghosh further added that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), after taking over the case, could not find anything new beyond the findings of the original police probe and one person, found to be behind the ghastly crime, has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by court.
Hindustan Times
35 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
‘BJP's J&K policy a failure': Mehbooba says party's agenda of alliance offers respectable solutions
Claiming that BJP's policy for J&K was an utter failure, the president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti, on Saturday, said that saffron party should implement 'agenda of alliance' that was reached between PDP and BJP in 2015 when they formed a coalition government in Union territory. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti (PTI) Addressing media here, Mufti said, 'The situation in J&K has deteriorated badly under BJP. Earlier, people talked about they are silent but a volcano is boiling deep inside. Today, a small country Pakistan is competing against their economy, not tenth of ours, their army and Because you (BJP) have shunned the policy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and has adopted the policy of Nathuram Godse,' she said. The former chief minister strongly advocated a dialogue, firstly with the people of J&K and then taking it on a higher pedestal with Pakistan. 'There is still time and scope to implement 'agenda of alliance' that late Mufti Sahib reached with the BJP. It was an agenda of alliance of the people of J&K and this nation,' she said. She recalled how her father advocated opening border routes like Kargil-Skardu, Sialkot-Suchetgarh and other routes with Pakistan in a bid to make borders soft and encourage people to people contact. 'My father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Sahib had a vision for J&K, and had formed a common minimum programme with the Congress when it formed the government in alliance with the BJP in 2002. 'After that, we worked out an agenda of alliance with the BJP and the only purpose behind it was to bail J&K out of the morasses,' she said. 'The agenda of alliance talked about opening cross-border roads so that caged J&K could be opened. It was for the transfer of power projects, removal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and other measures to bring peace and progress to the region. What you (BJP) do? You separated Ladakh after bifurcating the state into two UTs. That was the day when J&K was ruined on the pretext of improving the situation and restoring peace,' she said. Mufti claimed that since August 5, 2019, the situation has deteriorated, especially across Jammu region. 'In the last six years, crime graph has gone up in Jammu because criminals have come here. Livelihood of the people of Jammu are being jobs, everything is being given to the outsiders,' she said while recalling that people of J&K were promised 'rivers of milk and honey,' she said. 'J&K continue to be the flashpoint between India and Pakistan with clouds of war hovering over the region,' she said. The PDP chief claimed that BJP has also realised that stern policy in Kashmir has not brought any positive change. 'In fact, this approach has pushed J&K further back. I appeal to the government to relook into the agenda of alliance and implement it,' she said. The PDP leader also claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoys authority like his predecessors Indira Gandhi and Vajpayee, and he should adopt a humanitarian approach rather than using J&K as a 'vote bank'.
