NEW DELHI: The Invest Karnataka 2025 summit in Bengaluru may have caused division between the Congress-led Karnataka government and the party’s central leadership, reports suggest.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi are likely to skip the “Invest Karnataka 2025” summit in Bengaluru, amid reported displeasure over the event’s guest list hierarchy.
The party’s leadership is unhappy with Union ministers and BJP leaders being given prominence over their own senior figures at the summit, news agency PTI reported citing sources.
The invitation card for the event places the names of Kharge and Gandhi below several Union ministers, a move that has reportedly irked party leaders, the report said.
The high-profile investors’ summit, set to take place from 12 to 14 February, aims to attract global investments to the state under the theme “Reimagining Growth.” The event is expected to bring in investment proposals worth Rs 10 lakh crore, with a target of realising at least 70 per cent of these commitments, according to Karnataka Minister for Large and Medium Industries M B Patil.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the summit in the presence of Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, while Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will preside over the inaugural session. Rahul Gandhi, in his capacity as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, was scheduled to launch the revamped Single Window System and unveil the state’s new Industrial Policy 2025-30. Kharge, as Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, was expected to attend the concluding ceremony.
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 summit. The event will also feature key industry leaders and global investors, with over 75 marquee speakers and multiple technical and country sessions.
The summit is set to witness the announcement of major projects, including a 200-acre Startup Park near Hubballi Airport to accommodate over 400 startups and a 1,200-acre Solar Cell Manufacturing and Agro-Tech Park in Vijayapura district. Several awards, including the Invest Karnataka Awards and Sunrise Sector Awards, will recognise outstanding contributions across industries, while a global startup challenge under the VentuRISE initiative will offer nine awards totalling $300,000.