Kerala government denies move to change names of places in Kasaragod from Kannada to Malayalam

Kasaragod, June 28: Kerala government on Monday denied news reports that it was mulling to change names of certain places in Kasaragod district bordering Karnataka from Kannada to Malayalam.

Minister for Local Self-government MV Govindan Master's office denied the reports and said the Kerala government has not taken any step to change the names of any place in Kasaragod district. Manjeshwaram MLA AKM Ashraf too said there was no move to change the names of the places.

"This news is completely baseless. There was no move by the Kerala government to change the name of places," a senior source from the office of Master told news agency. Ashraf, who took the oath as an IUML legislator in Kannada language, told news agency that it was fakenews.

"Someone from Karnataka Border Development Authority has come up with the news. There are no plans to change the name of the places," Ashraf said.

Earlier, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said he would write to his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan requesting him to stop changing names of places in Kasaragod district of Kerala bordering the state from Kannada to Malayalam.

The Karnataka Border Area Development Authority (KBADA) chairman Dr C Somasekhara today brought the matter to the notice of Yediyurappa stating that the Kerala government intended to change the names of some Kerala villages from Kannada to Malayalam sounding names.

On Sunday, former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and BJP MP Pratap Simha had objected the reported move and sought Yediyurappa's immediate intervention in the issue.