Kharge, Rahul to skip 'Invest Karnataka' event due to Parliament session

NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi will skip the "Invest Karnataka 2025" summit in Bengaluru due to Parliament Budget session.

Writing on X, Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary incharge of communication, said the two leaders would not be able to take part in the function because of their pre-occupation with the Parliament session currently under way in Delhi.

"Both the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and @INCIndia president Mallikarjun kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi are extremely tied up in Parliament today on account of the continuing debate on the Budget. Hence, they have regretted their inability to attend the inauguration of the Karnataka Investor Summit this evening in Bengaluru," Ramesh wrote on X.

"They have sent their best wishes for the summit and are confident that it will be a very productive and successful one in keeping with Karnataka's unique competitive and comparative advantages," Ramesh added.

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.