After Bengaluru Shops Get "60%" Order, Pro-Kannada Groups On Rampage
NDTV
The language row is back in focus after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in October "everyone living in this state should learn to speak Kannada".
The language row in Karnataka escalated sharply Wednesday after members of a right-wing group - the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, which is pushing for the enforced use of Kannada - held violent protests across state capital Benglauru, including the Kempegowda International Airport and high-profile business and shopping centres in the city, like MG Road, Brigade Road, Lavelle Road, and St Marks Road. #WATCH | Bengaluru: Kannada Raksha Vedhike holds a protest demanding all businesses and enterprises in Karnataka to put nameplates in Kannada. pic.twitter.com/ZMX5s9iJd0 #WATCH | Police detained members of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, protesting to deliver messages to owners of many malls, shops, commercial buildings, companies and factories, especially multinational companies to install Kannada sign boards and give more visibility to the Kannada… pic.twitter.com/tRjsPidLbB
English-language signboards of shops and businesses were damaged by the KRV goons, who declared such signages were "undermining the official language of Karnataka, which is Kannada". Police have taken several of the protesters into preventive custody, including KRV convener TA Narayana Gowda.
"As per rule, 60 per cent of signboards and nameplates should be in Kannada. We are not against some business but if you are doing business in Karnataka then you have to respect our language. If you ignore Kannada, or put Kannada letters in small (print), we will not let you operate here," he told reporters.
Fahad Ahmed, a candidate of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction, is currently trailing Sana Malik, nominee of Ajit Pawar's NCP, by over 3,000 votes and the counting is nearing completion.
The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, which includes the Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP, is en route to a thumping win in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election, thanks to its two smaller allies.
The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader said the results are not acceptable to his party and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition.
The Adani Group said that none of its 11 public companies are implicated or accused of any wrongdoing.
The MVA had only been given a (very) slim chance of upsetting the in-power BJP-led alliance's applecart in this election; only one of 11 exit polls studied by NDTV believed it can win.
The first phase saw voting in 43 constituencies, while the second phase saw 38 seats up for grabs. Chief Minister Hemant Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), leading the ruling INDIA alliance, faces a fierce challenge from the BJP-led NDA.
Assembly Election Results 2024: Maharashtra's 288 voted Wednesday in a single phase, and an average of 11 exit polls gives the ruling Mahayuti 155 seats.
Bypoll Assembly Election Results 2024 Live: Bypolls were held on 48 assembly seats in 14 states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal.
During the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was honoured (in absentia) with the Dr Martin Luther King Jr Global Peace Award for Minority Upliftment.
The DMK MPs held a meeting today to discuss what they called the BJP-led Centre's betrayal of the state and its people
Meanwhile, Kamlochan Kashyap, DIG South Bastar said a joint operation has been planned after getting information about the movement of a group of Maoists in the area.