From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Jan 16: State IT/BT and Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge has asked BJP MPs from 'misleading' people as the US Consulate office established in Bengaluru is 'only to service Americans and will take a while before they start processing VISA applications'.

The Minister has pointed out that the decision to establish consulates is made by the respective governments based on the economic significance of a city and not on the whims or personal preferences of BJP MPs or the External Affairs Minister.

In a statement, Kharge said External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, who served the nation as an officer for 38 years across various regimes (mostly under Congress governments), would agree that “Bengaluru has always been the natural choice for a US consulate, given its thriving ecosystem for investments and trade that mutually benefits the US and India.”

“Perhaps BJP MPs and Dr Jaishankar should make honest reels about how pressure from the Supreme Leader to prioritize a consulate in Gujarat caused the delay in establishing one in Bengaluru,” he said in a veiled dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and pointed out that Bengaluru would have got the US Consulate Office long back.

The US Consulate Office is being established for the time being from operated from JW Marriott Hotel on Vittal Mallya Road, near Sri Kanteerava Stadium as a temporary base and a full-fledged office would come up in the city, probably near Whitefield area.