KALABURAGI: In yet another incident of friction between the Union government and the Congress-led Karnataka government, Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge took a dig at PM Narendra Modi accusing him of acting discriminatorily by not inviting him and chief minister Siddaramaiah for the inauguration of Bidar-Kalaburagi line.
Speaking at the inaugural of 120 quarters for police personnel, Kharge said that as per his information, the tour programme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 29 included the inauguration of Kalaburagi-Bidar Railway Line at Bidar. However, he said, neither any information nor an invitation has been sent to him or the chief minister so far.
"At least the Railway Minister should personally invite chief minister Siddaramaiah to the inauguration as the state government has equally shared the expenses for the project," Kharge said.
He said that the NDA government has been dragging the project for over three years but has now planned to inaugurate it as Karnataka Assembly elections approach.
The Prime Minister would have inaugurated Kalaburagi-Humnabad Railway Line at Kalaburagi, but for political reasons he is inaugurating the project at Bidar, Kharge said.
Bhagavant Khuba of BJP is representing Bidar in Lok Sabha and Mallikarjun Kharge of Congress is representing Kalaburagi in Lok Sabha.