BJP legislator calls HDK a visionary

BJP MLC Lahar Singh on Monday hailed Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy for encouraging promotion of different languages in tourist places even as he criticised his predecessor Siddaramaiah for removing Hindi signboards from Namma Metro stations.

Speaking during the discussion on the budget in the Legislative Council, Singh said it was not a wise decision of the previous Congress government as Bengaluru attracted several tourists from different states.

“I was heartened to read in the budget that tourist guides will be trained in other Indian languages. He is a visionary. Unfortunately, the previous chief minister was short sighted. The government should have allowed Hindi signages in Metro,” he added.

When Leader of the House and Womern and Child Development minister Jayamala took exception to the same, Singh said he was not opposed to Kannada. “All I am saying is the government should have allowed Hindi signboards along with Kannada signages.”

Singh also supported Kumaraswamy’s proposal to start English medium education in 1,000 government schools. Stating that such a move was the need of the hour, Singh said that it was pointless to oppose English medium schools as youths from rural Karnataka were not getting jobs as they were not proficient in English.

He said it was hypocritical for politicians to educate their children in ‘convent schools’, and oppose English education in government schools.