CM HD Kumaraswamy meets PM Modi, Union ministers in New Delhi

Congratulates PM on his second term; updates him on drought situation in State, asks for release of funds
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday and congratulated him on his second term in office |Express
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday and congratulated him on his second term in office |Express

BENGALURU: Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, who is in New Delhi to take part in the NlTI Aayog governing council meeting, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday for the first time after he was re-elected for his second term as the Prime Minister.

Ahead of the meeting of the governor council sitting, Kumaraswamy met Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to discuss state issues including appointment of locals in rural banks, Kannada language tests in IBPS, pending funds under MGNREGA scheme and various water issues including Mahadayi and Mekedatu. 

Kumaraswamy also met with former prime minister Manmohan Singh at the AICC headquarters along with Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Puducherry CM Narayanaswamy. 

Apart from congratulating the Prime Minister on his re-election, Kumaraswamy updated him about Karnataka’s drought situation. The Chief Minister urged Modi to release funds including pending dues worth Rs 1,500 crores under MNREGA immediately. 

In his meeting with Nirmala Sitharaman, Kumaraswamy appealed for amendments in the IBPS regulations to prioritise local residents and those comfortable with regional language for recruitment in rural banks.  The appeal comes at a time when incidents of bank employees allegedly misbehaving with Kannada customers for not knowing Hindi has been making news. He also appealed that bank exams should be allowed in all 22 constitutionally recognised languages to help regional candidates. 

In his meeting with Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Shekhawat, Kumaraswamy asked for meeting of all stakeholders to issue gazette notification of Mahadayi and Krishna tribunals. He also made an appeal to approve the Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted for Mekedatu project that ensures drinking water to Bengaluru and hydroelectricity production with Karnataka’s share of water. The project is being vehemently opposed by Tamil Nadu.

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