CM Yogi wants Aero India in UP, Karnataka govt asks Centre to 'clarify stand'

NEW DELHI: Following UP CM Yogi Adityanath's request to defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman to permit Uttar Pradesh to host the

Aero India show

, the Karnataka government has reacted strongly to the development and accused the NDA government at the Centre of taking away its "key defense projects and flagship programs".


According to recent reports, the Centre had proposed to move the

Aero India

show out of Karnataka.

Reacting to the development, deputy chief minister Dr G Parameshwara took to Twitter and attacked the government at the Centre saying: "We have been India's defence hub since Independence, but under the NDA, we are constantly losing key defense projects and flagship programs."

Parameshwara further urged defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman to clarify her stand on the issue.

The chief of Karnataka Congress, Dinesh Gundu Rao, had reportedly written a letter to the defence minister appealing that the move to shift the biennial show from Bengaluru be reconsidered as the state had been hosting the event since 1996.

State minister for social welfare, Priyank Kharge, said that the plan was just to fancy the PM. "The shifting of the Aero India is ill conceived. It is not just an “Aero Show” it has B2B activities that are important for Pvt players & Govt sector for prospective businesses & needs to be planned in advance. This Lucknow plan is only to fancy the PM," he said.

Karnataka's revenue minister R V Deshpande also met Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi on Saturday to discuss the shifting of the air show from Bengaluru.

The Aero India show was scheduled to be held in Bengaluru in February 2019. Bengaluru has been hosting the event since 1996.

The Centre has, however, not commented on the issue so far.