BENGALURU: Union Minister of Steel and Heavy Industries HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday met Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at Railway Bhavan in New Delhi and discussed reviving stalled projects in Karnataka.
“I had a cordial meeting with Ashwini Vaishnaw. We discussed the timely completion of delayed and ongoing railway projects in the state, the approval of new railway lines and securing financial assistance. I had an extensive consultation with the Minister, and I am pleased with his very positive response,” Kumaraswamy posted on ‘X’.
He is said to have requested Vaishwnaw to undertake and expedite the Bengaluru-Satyamangala-Chamarajanagar railway project (via the Kanakapura-Malavalli route), which was sanctioned during the tenure of HD Deve Gowda as prime minister. The discussion lasted over an hour.
BHEL delegation meets HDK
A delegation from Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) met Kumaraswamy at the Ministry of Heavy Industries office in Udyog Bhavan. Kamran Rizvi, Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries, attended the meeting.
BHEL CMD K Sadashiva Murthy and all members of the Board of Directors were present. Murthy presented a comprehensive overview of BHEL’s operations, and briefed the minister on BHEL’s engagements across various sectors, including power, defence and industry. Kumaraswamy was briefed on the roles and responsibilities of the board.
Kumaraswamy held a separate meeting with officials from the steel and heavy industry departments and met Minister of State for Steel and Heavy Industries Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Verma.
He and Verma also met officials from the Indian Iron and Steel Company. Interestingly, Kumaraswamy left Bengaluru at 4.30 am for the national capital to attend the meetings. HDK meets Shah, discusses Karnataka politics
Kumaraswamy paid his maiden visit to Union Home Minister Amit Shah after assuming office as minister. He is said to have discussed various issues, including political developments in Karnataka, but exact details are not available.
Shah had played a key role in BJP forging an alliance with JDS in the Lok Sabha elections. It was on Shah’s advice that Kumaraswamy contested the polls and is now a Union minister.
It was also Shah who suggested to former PM and JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda’s son-in-law Dr CN Manjunath to contest on a BJP ticket and he went on to defeat Karnataka DCM DK Shivakumar’s brother DK Suresh in Bengaluru Rural.
The alliance is likely to continue for the BBMP and ZP-TP polls and Shah will chalk out a strategy to nail down the ruling Congress, sources said.