Priyank Kharge Defends DK Shivakumar Meeting With Gautam Adani

Bengaluru: Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge has defended Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s meeting with industrialist Gautam Adani, describing it as a “courtesy meeting” and saying Adani is treated by the state government as a contractor when his companies participate in government projects.

Kharge said Adani Enterprises has emerged as the L1 (lowest) bidder in major Karnataka projects and argued that the government cannot reject a bidder simply because of its political disagreements with the businessman.

The remarks came after Adani met Shivakumar at the Chief Minister’s residence in Bengaluru on August 23. The CM’s office also described the meeting as a courtesy call. Adani Enterprises has emerged as the lowest bidder for the proposed Hebbal–Silk Board tunnel road project, although the tender has not yet been officially finalised.

The BJP has accused Congress of double standards, pointing to Rahul Gandhi’s repeated criticism of Adani while the Karnataka government is considering projects involving his group.

Kharge hit back at the BJP, particularly over its opposition to the Bengaluru tunnel project, asking whether the BJP would continue opposing the project now that Adani has emerged as the contractor.

The political controversy comes as the state government weighs the tender, with the proposed tunnel project estimated by Karnataka at around ₹17,698 crore.