Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that those who live in the state should learn the Kannada language.

The Chief Minister was speaking on the occasion of 62nd Karnataka Rajyotsava in Bengaluru

"Everyone who lives here is a Kannadiga...Whoever lives in Karnataka should learn Kannada and make their children learn it too," he said.

Stating that he was not against learning any language, the Chief Minister said, "But if you don't learn Kannada, it means you're showing disrespect to the language."

He also said that all schools in the state should teach Kannada.

However, the row over compulsion of Kannada language is going on for several months.

In July, huge protests were staged by pro-Kannada outfits over the use of Hindi on Namma Metro signboards, which also had forced Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to write to the Centre stating the government was compelled to ask Namma Metro to temporarily re-design signboards in stations without the Hindi language following a row over its use.

In Augusts, the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) asked all nationalised, scheduled and rural banks functioning in Karnataka to ensure that all its non-Kannada speaking staff learn the language in six months.

The authority has also asked them to set up Kannada units at all their branches in the state, in line with Hindi units which exist for the implementation of the language.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also wished the people of Karnataka on Kannada Rajyotsava.

"My good wishes are with the people of Karnataka on the Kannada Rajyotsava. We are proud of the rich culture of Karnataka. I pray for its progress," he said on Twitter.