Ajay Devgn v Kichcha Sudeepa: Modi minister, Karnataka CM, Congress react to Hindi, regional language row

The language debate sparked by actors Kichcha Sudeepa and Ajay Devgn continues to rage across the country. A day after the Twitter spat between Sudeepa and Devgn, politicians from various parts of India weighed in.

In Karnataka's capital Bengaluru, the Karnataka Rakshana Vedika held a protest against Ajay Devgn. Karnataka's Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai defended Kichcha Sudeepa, who hails from the state. Bommai said that Sudeepa's statement was correct, and regional language is most important as states are formed on linguistic basis.

Ajay Devgn also faced criticism from Opposition parties like the Congress and the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. Union culture minister G. Kishan Reddy said that the BJP respects and encourages all languages, but Hindi is the national language.

In a recent media interaction, Kichcha Sudeepa had reportedly said that "Hindi is no more a national language". In response, Ajay Devgn asked why movies in southern languages are dubbed in Hindi and released. Devgn ended by saying that Hindi was, is, and will remain the national language.

Sudeepa responded by saying that his statement was taken out of context. He also said that he understood Devgn's Hindi tweet, but asked whether the Bollywood star have understood a tweet in Kannada.

The interaction ended with Devgn thanking Sudeepa for clearing up the misunderstanding, and the south star said that it's important to not react without knowing the entire issue.