Bangalore South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya accused the Congress government in Karnataka for causing the delay in setting up the US consulate. (Image: PTI/File)
A decision to open two new consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad was taken when PM Narendra Modi visited the US in June last year
A political slugfest has begun over the yet-to-open US consulate in Bengaluru, which has been a long pending demand considering the large IT workforce in the city. There has been a delay in setting it up despite a decision on this during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US in June last year.
Back then it was decided that the US will open two new consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, while India will establish a mission in Seattle, Washington.
The BJP’s MP, Tejasvi Surya, has accused the Congress-ruled Karnataka government of causing a delay in setting up the consulate by not communicating with US officials in India. He alleged that the state government has not communicated with the officials in the last eight to nine months over issues like location and necessary infrastructure.
“Since the time of the announcement, the state government of Karnataka has not taken any effort to make this a reality. It is the state government’s responsibility to communicate with them and provide necessary infrastructure and support and get this done. I can tell you, till now not a single communication has been made from the Government of Karnataka to the US authorities. Had the government been proactive, we would have had a functional US consulate in Karnataka by now. But, ministers are busy stealing credit for this while it’s already a sanctioned project,” Surya said.
Rubbishing the charges made by Bangalore South MP, IT minister Priyank Kharge alleged that the central government is planning to move the consulate to Gujarat and the Karnataka government is constantly in touch with the US consulate and is ready to move to a temporary building to start as soon as possible.
“As usual, Mr Tejasvi Surya is clueless about what he is talking about. Maybe you should ask the prime minister’s office why he hasn’t opened the US consulate here till now. What I hear is that they are pushing the consulate to Gujarat whereas it is needed here in Bengaluru. So, I request the Bengaluru South MP to figure out what the prime minister’s office is doing. I have already met the US consulate, we have given a letter earlier also and are even ready to move them to a temporary building as soon as possible. This kind of politics is not welcome. What has he been doing for five years now? Why haven’t they done anything?” Kharge said.
At present, citizens have to travel to Chennai, Hyderabad or New Delhi for any US visa-related work despite a large number of students and techies travelling to the US from Bengaluru every year.
