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Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge on Thursday said that he will write to the Ministry of External Affairs for an explanation after it denied him permission to lead a delegation to the United States seeking investments for the state, The Indian Express reported.
Kharge, who holds the information technology portfolio in the state’s Congress government, also said that he would ask Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The minister had sought permission to visit the US from June 14 to June 27, the newspaper reported. A delegation from his department had fixed appointments with several companies and think tanks in New York and Boston, he said.
Siddaramaiah had cleared the proposal for the delegation in May, after which it was sent to the Ministry of External Affairs on May 15, Kharge said. However, it was rejected on June 4, he added.
“I can understand if there was a solid reason that was given [for the rejection],” Kharge told NDTV.
However, the response from the ministry cited no reason, he added.
“On June 6, I took out only my name from the list and mentioned only the delegation of officers,” Kharge said, adding this proposal was cleared on June 11. “The request was exactly the same but without my name.”
On June 12, the minister said that he sent the name of Sharath Bachegowda, Karnataka’s electronics development corporation chairperson and MLA, as the leader of the delegation, The Indian Express reported. This proposal was also cleared by June 14, he added.
Claiming that there was a “pattern” in the refusal, Kharge asked how investments would come to the state if ministers were not seen at the right places with the right people, NDTV reported. “If the government thinks that Karnataka cannot deliver, I wonder who can,” he added.
The Congress leader claimed that ministers from other southern states such as Telangana and Tamil Nadu were also denied permission to lead delegations seeking investment, The Indian Express reported.
While the Congress is in power in Telangana, the Tamil Nadu government is led by ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Kharge said that he would also request the chief minister to write to the prime minister.
“This is not healthy,” he said. “As the Government of India, you have all the right to correct us. But if you don’t give us a valid reason, then we will consider it as politics.”
This article first appeared on Scroll.in
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