Priyank blames BJP for letting investors leave state

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Minister for Information Technology and Bio-Technology Priyank Kharge on Thursday slammed the erstwhile BJP government for allegedly letting investors walk out of Karnataka to other states.

Talking on the floor of the Council, he claimed that the previous BJP government that ruled from 2019 to 2023 had fixated on issues of an emotive and communal nature like the hijab ban in educational institutions, mooting a ban on halal meat, outrage on azaan over loudspeakers and boycott of Muslim traders near temple premises.

He alleged that the communal atmosphere had made investors see Karnataka as an unfavourable destination. The minister cited a report that Tamil Nadu had exported goods worth Rs20,000 crores in iPhone accessories alone.

“They (TN) accomplished that in only four years. However, where did Apple first establish a manufacturing unit in the country? It was here in Bengaluru. During our government’s reign (2013 to 2018), Assembly units were set up in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra, UP etc. However, we convinced them of our political and social ability and brought them to the state. We have lost said advantage in the past four years,” Priyank said.

“Now we are number three. Tamil Nadu is number one. UP is number two. Who is to be blamed for this? We in Karnataka were busy discussing hijab, jhatka, halal, azaan when (former) Tamil Nadu finance minister (Thiagarajan) gave a statement that we (TN) would roll out the red carpet for investors, adding that here (in Karnataka), the circumstances had not been good. In Telangana, KTR, who is the IT and Industry Minister, had said to investors that they should leave Karnataka and come to Hyderabad and invest and create jobs here because they had good physical and social infrastructure,” he added.