Siddaramaiah defends defamation suit against BJP: ‘Fake news will face real consequences’

.@BJP4Karnataka is spreading a malicious lie that our Govt gave more funds to Urdu while neglecting Kannada.

This is not just false — it’s a deliberate attempt to incite communal hatred.

A national party behaving like internet trolls is deeply shameful. pic.twitter.com/eYSA3lGLbl

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 27, 2025

The BJP, in a recent post, had alleged that “Urdu lover” Siddaramaiah had betrayed Kannadigas by allocating Rs 100 crore for the development of Urdu, while only Rs 32 crore was budgeted for the development of Kannada. This was a part of its recent campaign against the Congress government, when it completed two years in office.

Following the same, the Karnataka government on Sunday had issued a notification to file the case, and deputed the secretary of the personnel and administrative reforms department as the complainant. The BJP had condemned the decision, terming it the imposition of another Emergency in the state.

Siddaramaiah said that the claim was “a deliberate political distortion — a lie designed to mislead and provoke”. The government had set aside Rs 38,688 crore for supporting Kannada-medium education and Rs 999.3 crore for government school infrastructure. “This entire allocation benefits Kannada-based education. So where is the neglect?” he asked.

Siddaramaiah clarified that the Rs 100 crore allocation for the minority welfare department is for Urdu-medium schools, which will be used to improve classrooms, teacher appointments, textbooks and school buildings. “Equating any language with a particular religion is an insult to that language,” Siddaramaiah said.

All native tongues of Karnataka — Tulu, Kodava, Konkani, Arebhashe, Byari — have dedicated academies and receive an annual grant of ₹80 lakh each, along with extra funds for cultural programmes, Siddaramaiah added. “For Kannada, we have a full-fledged Kannada and Culture Department managing 14 Academies, 3 Authorities and 24 Literary Trusts, all working exclusively for Kannada, Kannadigas and Karnataka,” he further noted.

“Kannada is not just a language. It is our identity, pride, and mother tongue — and our government will never tolerate insults to Kannada or Karnataka. To defend this honour, we’ve filed a defamation suit in the Hon’ble 42nd CJM Court, Bengaluru against Karnataka BJP for spreading lies through their “2 Years of Government Failure” campaign. Fake news will face real consequences,” Siddaramaiah added.