Karnataka big guns roar in unison, air show ours
CM Kumaraswamy writes to PM Modi.
Bengaluru: In a heavily polarised society like Karnataka, this is the one issue which could bring warring political parties on the same platform. Amid fears that the prestigious Aero India show could be shifted to Lucknow, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi making a fervent plea to retain the biennial aviation show in the city itself. He pointed out that the state capital is the hub of defence and aviation majors in the country and is certainly the most suitable place to conduct the show.
The CM formally requested the Centre to host the Aero India-2019 in Bengaluru itself amid speculation that the show may be shifted to the Bakshi ki Talab airbase in the UP capital Lucknow. Starting from 1996, the IT capital has taken great pride in hosting eleven back to back Aero shows. In his letter to PM Modi, the Chief Minister explained in detail why the show should be hosted in Bengaluru itself. "A total of 549 global and Indian companies from 51 countries had participated in the eleventh edition of Aero show held in 2017," he reasoned.
Mr Kumaraswamy also pointed out that the state capital, Bengaluru was the hub of defence and aviation majors in the country and was certainly the most suitable place to conduct the show.
Karnataka on Monday formally requested the Centre to host the Aero India-2019 in Bengaluru itself amid speculation that the show may be shifted to Lucknow. Starting from 1996, the city had hosted eleven Aero shows in the past. In his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy explained in detail why the show should be hosted in Bengaluru itself.
“A total of 549 global and Indian companies from 51 countries had participated in the eleventh edition of Aero show held in 2017,” he reasoned. Mr Kumaraswamy also pointed out that the state capital, Bengaluru was the hub of defence and aviation majors in the country and was certainly the most suitable place to conduct the show.
Earlier, the KPCC has written to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, telling her that as a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, she had to protect the interests of the state and ensure that Aero India show was retained in Bengaluru. A miffed Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwar had said last week that under the NDA regime, the state was losing key defence projects to other states.