Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge on Tuesday, June 17, said that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) denied clearance for him to visit the United States of America (USA) on official business.
Priyank was scheduled to attend the BIO International Convention in Boston and the Design Automation Conference (DAC) in San Francisco.
The Congress leader is currently in France where he attended the VivaTech 2025, the Paris Air Forum and the Paris Air Show.
“I’m holding back on making any public statements for now. Once I’m back in Bengaluru, I will seek a clear explanation from the Government of India regarding this denial,” Priyank said in a tweet, responding to a news report by NDTV about his alleged clearance denial.
According to reports, Priyank holds a valid US visa. “But MEA clearance is necessary to undertake official visits. There’s no clarity yet on why MEA has denied clearance,” a source said.
BJP spokesperson Prashanth GS has, for now, played down the controversy over Priyank Kharge’s claim. Speaking to NDTV, Prashanth said, “There is no clarity about the level at which clearance was denied,” adding that he would refrain from commenting further until the Ministry of External Affairs, which is responsible for sanctioning foreign trips by both state and Union ministers and officials, provides an explanation for the denial.