Overview

• The Ministry of External Affairs refused to grant Priyank Kharge clearance for official visits to the BIO International Convention in Boston and the Design Automation Conference in San Francisco despite his valid US visa
• Other members of the Karnataka delegation, including senior state officers, received their MEA approvals and have proceeded to the United States
• Currently in France, Kharge plans to return to Bengaluru on Thursday and formally seek an explanation from the central government for his travel denial
• BJP spokesperson Prashanth GS said there is no clarity on the bureaucratic level at which Kharge’s clearance was withheld and called on the MEA to clarify its decision
• The incident has drawn attention to India’s protocols for ministerial overseas visits and intensified tensions between the Congress-led Karnataka government and the BJP-led Centre