Priyank Kharge gets rousing reception in Kalaburagi as Home Minister

Home Minister Priyank Kharge on Sunday received a rousing reception on his first visit to his home district of Kalaburagi after assuming charge in the Cabinet headed by Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar.

Mr. Kharge, who earlier held the portfolios of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Information Technology and Biotechnology, now heads the Home Department besides Information Technology and Biotechnology.

Hundreds of Congress leaders, party workers, Youth Congress members and supporters gathered to welcome him.

His convoy was taken in a grand procession through the city, with residents lining the roads and supporters showering flower petals as it passed through major junctions adorned with Congress flags and banners.

The procession began at Nagareshwara School in Gunj where Mr. Kharge travelled in an open-roof vehicle before boarding a flower-decked lorry along with senior party leaders for the procession to the District Congress Committee office.

MLA Allamprabhu Patil, MLCs Thippannappa Kamaknoor and Jagadev Guttedar, Kalaburagi Urban Development Authority chairman Mazhar Alam Khan and GESCOM chairman Praveen Patil Harwal were among those who accompanied the Minister.

Addressing party workers after being felicitated at the Congress office, Mr. Kharge expressed gratitude for the warm welcome and thanked AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi for entrusting him with the responsibility.

“Outside, I may be the Minister for Home, Information Technology and e-Governance. But once I enter the Congress office, I remain an ordinary party worker,” he said.

Highlighting the achievements of the previous Congress government, Mr. Kharge said that around ₹1,400 crore was mobilised as revenue at the gram panchayat level, while ₹1,600 crore was spent on drinking water projects.

He said that adequate grants were released to gram panchayats based on their population.

He also claimed that the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department earned recognition from contractors associations, panchayat development officers associations and even the Union government for its performance. Karnataka emerged as the country’s leading State in the Information Technology and Biotechnology sector, he added.

Mr. Kharge said that the State government sanctioned ₹350 crore for the proposed textiles park, released ₹640 crore as compensation for farmers and initiated recruitment of 7,000 police personnel.

“These achievements are not mine alone. They have been possible because the people elected me and gave me an opportunity to serve them,” he said.