Meet Narayana Gowda, whose Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, spearheaded vandalism in Bengaluru

Pro-Kannada Language Protest: Bengaluru - the IT city of India, was held to a ransom on Wednesday as TA Narayana Gowda's Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) went on a rampage, vandalising signboards and hoardings of business establishments that were in English. Demanding 60% of signboards and logos in Kannada, KRV activists took to the streets and protested in multiple business hubs like MG Road, Kempegowda International Airport Road and others. 

The situation went out of control and massive traffic jam was witnessed across the airport road, crippling the normalcy. Later, police took the protesters including the faction’s chief T A Narayana Gowda in custody. For the unversed, Gowda's organisation had set Wednesday as the 'deadline' for business establishments in Bengaluru to follow a directive from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), requiring that 60 per cent of the signage in the city be in Kannada.

Who is Narayana Gowda- The Man Behind Pro-Kannada Protest in Bengaluru

• TA Narayana Gowda is state president of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), the group which spearheaded the pro-Kannada protest in Bengaluru.
• Gowda asserted that he spoke to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar the night before protest
• "They assured us that the protests would be permitted. If there's any arrest or disruption in our movement, then the police will bear responsibility for any unforeseen incidents in Bengaluru," he warned.
• A social media user has also shared a picture of Gowda with CM Siddaramaiah wherein he has claimed that TA Narayanagowda, the man behind violent protests for Kannada boards in Karnataka met CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar on 19th December 2023 at Karnataka Bhavan. 

Pro-Kannada Protest: What the Protesters Are Demanding? 

60 per cent of the nameplates on business establishments should be in Kannada.  "People from various states are doing business in Bangalore. But they don't put Kannada nameplates on their shops. They are only putting up the nameplates of their shops in English. If they want to stay back in Bangalore then they have to put nameplates on their shops in Kannada or else they have to move from Karnataka to other states", Gowda said, adding that there is a Karnataka government law that 60 per cent of the nameplate should be in Kannada.

"No one is following it properly, so today we are doing a massive awareness protest rally. If the police stop us today, our struggle will not stop. We will continue the rally every day till our demands are met," he stated.

"We told them to put a Kannada nameplate but Mall of Asia (Bangalore) did not bother and has not put a Kannada nameplate so we will fight against this. Today police are providing full protection to the Mall of Asia (Bengaluru), but tomorrow who will provide protection? Tomorrow again our activists will protest, till our demand is fulfilled," he added.