After Amit Shah's push for Hindi, Yediyurappa says 'won't compromise on Kannada'

Karnataka Chief Minister B.S.Yediyurappa seems to be unimpressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah 's push for Hindi as a common language for the country.

Taking to Twitter, the chief minister said as far as Karnataka is concerned, “ Kannada is the principal language,” and added that the importance of Kannada will never be compromised. Yediyurappa further said the government is committed to promote Kannada and the state's culture.

“All official languages in our country are equal. However, as far as Karnataka is concerned, #Kannada is the principal language. We will never compromise its importance and are committed to promote Kannada and our state's culture,” he tweeted.

The comment by the BJP chief minister comes even as various political parties in the South said they would oppose any attempt to "impose" the language. Earlier on Monday, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan , in a video, had said, “Unity in diversity is a promise we made when we made India into a republic. Now, no Shah, Sultan or Samrat should renege on that promise. We respect all languages, but our mother language will always be Tamil."

Opposing the Centre's push for Hindi, DMK president M.K. Stalin had accused the Union government of "autocratic imposition of Hindi" and underscored the need for unity in opposition ranks to take forward protest against the government on such issues, while Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said Hindi as a common language for the country would never be a reality.

(With PTI inputs)