Bengaluru, Aug 14: Under attack from the ruling Congress-JD(S) combine, senior BJP leadersfrom Karnataka on Monday categorically said they won’t allow the Centre to shift Aero India, a biennial air show and aviation exhibition, from Bengaluru.
“It is true the Uttar Pradesh government is keen on shifting the show to Lucknow, but we and our MPs from the state will not allow this to happen. We will retain the show at any cost in Bengaluru,” BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa told reporters in Gadag on Monday.
Union parliamentary affairs and chemicals and fertilizers minister HN Ananth Kumar said he has urged defence minister Niramala Sitharaman, who is also a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, to retain the show in Bengaluru and added that he’s confident she’d respond positively.
Dismissing reports that UP CM Yogi Adityanath had lobbied hard to move the aero show from Bengaluru to Uttar Pradesh, Kumar said: “I don’t know why Adityanath’s name is being dragged into this. In a democratic system, any state can seek to host the show. Similarly, UP has applied for it. Ultimately, the defence minister will take a call and we are confident the decision will be in our favour.” Kumar, however, claimed the Uttar Pradesh government has written to the defence ministry stating that it does not have the required infrastructure to conduct an air show in Lucknow.
A delegation of MPs from Karnataka, led by Union minister for planning and statistics DV Sadananda Gowda, will soon meet Sitharaman to impress upon her the need to retain the show in Bengaluru, Kumar said. He said Bengaluru must be chosen to host the event because it is the capital for defence aviation in the country. “We have HAL, NAL, Isro and several other central government and private agencies, and the city also has the necessary infrastructure to host the show.
Comments
This is a serious dilemma, because both States are very very important for BJP. They both are the heart and nerve centers of what BJP is about. Karnataka is most valued & love of India. Maybe instead of Aero Expo, Government should have Defense Expo in U P. Aero Expo should be there in Bangalore.
It''s a boring show even when well known names participate, and even they have not been participating from some years now. Last time, I actually felt sorry for the hassled IAF personnel forced to organize and keep it running smoothly. Let it go to UP or wherever, and spare bangalore north the jams, traffic diversions and litter.
What a backward place chosen to shift! Imagine the mindset of the narrow minded politicians!!
So that the revenue earned by the Karnataka government, will be directed to these politicians treasuries.
Has Bengaluru saved any cows, or supplied oxygen to hospitals where 1000 children die every month? Lucknow is the right candidate.
Yogi should organize good cow show instead Aero show, various cows from all over the world
Add new comment