Even BJP functionaries admit that Hindi was not understood by many at the rally

Prime Minister Narendra Modi bookended his speech with Kannada sentences in Bengaluru on Sunday. But most of his speech, delivered in chaste Hindi, was lost on a large section of people in the absence of a translator.

Even the Bharatiya Janata Party functionaries admitted that the language, especially the numbers he reeled out, was not understood by many. They attributed the absence of a translator on stage to “time constraints in the Prime Minister’s schedule.” A party member conceded that not many BJP leaders on the stage on Sunday could follow the statistics quoted by the Prime Minister.

A Kannada translator, who was part of every election rally addressed by national leaders during the earlier elections, seems to be missing this election season. This resulted in an awkward situation when BJP national president Amit Shah came to Chitradurga in January. He took the help of a translator halfway through his speech, when the largely non-Hindi speaking crowd responded with a “no” to whether they wanted B.S. Yeddyurappa as the Chief Minister, when he posed the question in Hindi. His more recent Mysuru rally had his speech translated.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s speeches in Hubballi and Bengaluru also had no translators. Rajnath Singh’s rally in Bengaluru in December last year had a translator.

This attains special significance in an environment where the Siddaramaiah-led government is asserting on Kannada identity and the State recently saw anti-Hindi agitation over Namma Metro signboards.

BJP general secretary in the state, Shobha Karandlaje, agreed that a translator was required for Hindi speeches in South India and the party will do so in future. Pointing out that many other rallies had translators, she said the Prime Minister’s speech was not translated owing to his schedule as he had to take off from the city before sunset.

Political scientist Sandeep Shastri said not translating a speech into Kannada amounted to “insensitivity” and had all the potential to flare-up into an emotional issue.

“Though I agree that translating a speech cuts the tempo and flow and is time-consuming, it is a must in South India to reach the masses,” he said.

Anand Guru, president, Banavasi Balaga, a group of Kannada activists, said translating Hindi or even English speeches into Kannada was necessary for effective communication. “BJP has a political belief in Hindi as a uniting force in the nation, which the south doesn’t subscribe to. But any party, including Congress, must translate Hindi or English speeches into Kannada. We are not asking national leaders to speak in Kannada, but only translate. Ideally, in a federal union like ours, Mr. Modi could talk in Gujarati, his mother tongue, and get it translated into Kannada,” he said.

As Rahul Gandhi starts his campaign in the State only this weekend, it is to be seen what strategy the Congress will adopt.