A day after the Karnataka Border Area Development Authority delegation met Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to urge him to reject the Malayalam Bhasha Bill 2025, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday (January 8, 2026) urged his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan to withdraw the Bill to protect the interests of Kannada-speaking linguistic minorities in Kerala.
Terming the Bill as an “attack on the linguistic freedom protected in the Constitution,” he said: “We did not expect that the Communist government in Kerala would crush the basic rights of linguistic minorities. Though administratively Kasaragod belongs to Kerala, it is emotionally connected with Karnataka.”
Commenting on social media platform X, he said that the Kerala government had every right to promote Malayalam, but it should not be at the cost of another language. He warned: “It is the responsibility of our government to protect the rights of Kannadigas. If the Kerala government tries to implement the Bill, Kannadigas will oppose it it in unison and will stand in unity to support Kannadigas of Kasaragod.”
The trigger for the Chief Minister’s statement is the passage of the Malayalam Bhasha Bill 2025 in the Kerala legislature that seeks to make Malayalam mandatory as first language upto class 10 in government and aided schools across Kerala. The delegation from the border area development authority on Wednesday had met the Kerala Governor and petitioned him to reject the Bill by highlighting its impact on Kannada-speaking linguistic minorities.
