Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi likely to skip ‘Invest Karnataka’ summit

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi are likely to skip the business summit organised by the Karnataka government in Bengaluru. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi are likely to skip the business summit organised by the Karnataka government in Bengaluru between February 12 and 14.

Both leaders have been invited as key guests to the ‘Invest Karnataka 2025’ summit that has the theme ‘Reimagining Growth’. The State’s new Industrial Policy 2025-30 will also be unveiled at the event.

Although there is no official communication in this regard, sources indicated that both the leaders will avoid attending the business summit.

There is resentment in the top party leadership for the prominence to given to several Union Ministers and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders at the event hosted by the Congress government in the State. The source said the top leadership of the party has conveyed its displeasure to the Karnataka government.

While Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the summit on February 12 in the presence of Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will preside over the inaugural session.

Several Union Ministers, including Pralhad Joshi, H.D. Kumaraswamy, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Shobha Karandlaje, and V. Somanna have confirmed their participation in the event.

While Mr. Gandhi was slated to launch the revamped Single Window System, Mr. Kharge was to participate in the concluding ceremony.

“The Congress president usually does not attend such events in the middle of the Parliament session, and Mr. Gandhi also has some other engagement,” a senior Congress functionary told The Hindu.

The event is being organised by the Karnataka government to attract global investment by highlighting the State’s strategic advantages in fostering innovation, industrial development, and global partnerships. The event will see several top industrialists as well as some global investors attending it.