Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dinesh Gundu Rao on Tuesday alleged that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had failed to safeguard the interests of Karnataka although she is a Member of Parliament (MP) from here.
Addressing presspersons here, Mr. Rao said the State has been bearing the brunt of “whimsical and arbitrary” decisions by the Centre that are adversely affecting it.
He has written to the Defence Minister appealing that the move to shift the biennial Aero India 2019 from Bengaluru be reconsidered.
“As MP from the State, we sincerely hope that you will speak for us, when the State is losing out on various fronts. We do not seek a dole out, but we wish you should judge us on our capability and merit while making a decision with regard to the venue of Aero India 2019,” he said in the letter.
Pointing out that Bengaluru has been hosting the show from 1996 and the Air Base here is still one of the best in the country for this purpose, the KPCC president’s letter stated: “Aviation experts and companies from across the globe congregate in what is the largest aviation event in the country.”
Referring to the Rafale deal, the letter said: “The manner in which Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) was treated in the Rafale Deal shows the indifferent attitude of the government. The fact that the Government of India would negotiate a deal and allow a newly former private entity to work with Dassault, while its own PSU (HAL) suffered as a consequence shows the indifferent attitude of the government.”
He also took exception to the Centre shifting the only CRPF centre in the south (Taralu in Karnataka) to Chandoli in Uttar Pradesh (coincidentally the home district of Home Minister Rajnath Singh) even though U.P. has five centres already.