Canadian MP Chandra Arya speaks Kannada in Parliament, mentions Kuvempu, Dr Rajkumar

Bengaluru, May 20: Karnataka-born Canadian MP Chandra Arya spoke in his mother tongue Kannada in the Canadian parliament on Thursday and the video of his speech has now gone viral.

In his video, he said that it was a proud moment for Kannadigas as a man born in Sira Taluk in Tumakuru district in Karnataka was speaking in Kannada in the Canadian Parliament.

In his speech, Arya mentioned about Kannadigas in Canada celebrating Kannada Rajyotsava in 2018 in the Parliament. He took Twitter to share the video and wrote, "I spoke in my mother tongue (first language) Kannada in Canadian parliament. This beautiful language has long history and is spoken by about 50 million people. This is the first time Kannada is spoken in any parliament in the world outside of India."

MP Chandra Arya ended his speech by remembering the lines "Elladaru iru enthadaru iru yendendigu nee Kannadavaagiru"(wherever you are be a Kannadiga forever) penned by Jnanapith Award-winning poet Kuvempu and made it popular by Sandalwood legend Dr Rajkumar.

The clip of his speech has now gone viral.

Chandra Arya is a Canadian Liberal politician, who was elected to represent the riding of Nepean in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election and subsequently re-elected in the 2019 federal election. He currently serves as a member of the Standing Committee on International Trade (CIIT).