Bengaluru, 19 June

Minister for IT and Biotechnology, Priyank Kharge, has criticised the Central government for denying him permission to travel to the United States to attract investments for the state.

Kharge was scheduled to lead a delegation to Boston for Bio 2025 and to San Francisco for the Design Automation Conference. However, following the denial of clearance, he was forced to cut short his visit and return from Paris to Bengaluru on Wednesday night.

“It seems the Centre is trying to curtail Karnataka’s growing reputation,” Kharge told reporters. While acknowledging the Union government’s authority to grant or withhold permission, he emphasised the need for transparency and justification.

Calling the rejection of his official tour “improper”, Kharge said he would write to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) seeking an explanation and urged the Chief Minister to raise the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Kharge clarified that the trip was purely business-focused. “We are not going to talk politics in the US. We are going to bring in investment, which benefits both Karnataka and the Centre,” he said.

He stressed that such denials send a negative signal to potential investors and harm the state’s development prospects.