Priyank Kharge furious over US trip ‘denial’, alleges Centre of political ‘bias’, seeks explanation

ANI

Bengaluru (Karnataka), June 19, 2025 ( ANI ) : Karnataka Minister of Electronics and IT Priyank Kharge said that he would “seek an explanation from the central government over the denial of his scheduled trip to the United States” . He also alleged Centre of political bias saying that a “delegation led by a minister was denied by the government , meanwhile, delegation led govt. official , and same rank cabinet minister was approved” . He also alleged the central govt. of sidelining Karnataka , even when it is a state that “ leads tech and IT sector” and is competing internationally. Kharge was scheduled to attend multiple events in the US.

Transcript

00:00I am well within my right to seek answers from the government of India on why they refused

00:05permission, a delegation led by me. And I am the, I am not going as an individual.

00:13I am representing the government of Karnataka and government of India as the world's fourth

00:17largest technologies custodian. We are number one in IT, we are number one in BT, we are number

00:23one in ESDM, we are number one in electronics. And if the government of Karnataka is being

00:30denied permissions without valid reasons, that's a problem. I can understand if – they

00:36gave me valid reasons. If they say like, look, now is not the right time to go, or if they

00:40say that, look, this is not in the best interest of the country, this is not in the best interest

00:44of the state, this is not what is the intention of the government of India, then I can understand.

00:50The Prime Minister globetrotts everywhere, making big slogans of national quantum mission,

00:55AI mission, skill India, digital India, make in India. And – but when we ask for a delegation

01:03visit, it is rejected. How do you think the Prime Minister is going to have a $10 trillion

01:08economy without the states functioning? So I am just asking, what are the reasons that

01:13you have rejected the visa, rejected the permission for delegation? Because delegation headed by minister

01:20is rejected. But the official – officer's delegation is approved. Then another cabinet

01:25colleague, cabinet rank colleague of mine is approved. But it is the same objectives,

01:30same impactful note that has been sent for all three. But the denial is a surprise.

01:37We are not saying that Uttar Pradesh should not go or Madhya Pradesh should not go, but who

01:40are the most capable people who are ready to – who can deliver on global stage? It is the – it is the

01:46government's run, like in Karnataka or in Tamil Nadu or Telangana. We speak at the global

01:50forum. We are competing with Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, China, Eastern European countries today.

01:58We are not competing with just our neighbouring states. The geographical boundaries have thinned.

02:05I don't know in which era the government of India is in.

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