BENGALURU: The State Government on Thursday sought an explanation from the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) for posting an advertisement on its X handle promoting Wayanad in Kerala as a tourist destination.
Tourism and law and parliamentary affairs minister HK Patil on Thursday said: “I have asked for explanation from KSTDC Managing Director. After I get the explanation, I will see what needs to be done.”
On the question of special political interest in promoting Wayanad compared to other south Indian states, Patil said, the question does not arise.
“Why it has been done, why the advertising agency has done needs to be known. The details are awaited,” he added.
KSTDC Managing Director Prashanth Kumar Mishra said it is an advertisement promoting a tourism package and the same were done in 2019, 2020, 2021 and after that as well.
“We promote other packages including to Maharashtra, Shirdi, Pandapura, Rameshwaram and Ooty. This has been done to promote tourism and it is nothing new,” he said.
This comes a day after the Opposition and netizens continued to criticise the KSTDC for its post. They alleged that this was done since it is Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s Lok Sabha constituency.
R Ashok, Opposition Leader in the state assembly, said: “How long will Karnataka tolerate a Chief Minister who behaves like Wayanad’s District Collector and fund raiser. You used KSTDC to promote Wayanad, the constituency of Priyanka Gandhi.”
The BJP said that the Congress government had allotted Rs 10 crore to Wayanad and Rs 15 lakh was given as compensation to the family of a man killed in elephant attack. The state also had said it would build 100 houses in Wayanad after the landslide.
Ashoka alleged that the government was neglecting the people of north Karnataka.
“Where is the compensation and flood relief funds for Kalaburagi, Raichur, Yadgir, Bidar, Vijayapura, Bagalkot and Belagavi? You moved money to another state faster than you moved money to our own disaster-hit farmers. This is not charity. This is High Command appeasement,” he said.
