Some politicians speak sense, some who speak nonsense — and then there’s Priyank Kharge, Karnataka’s Minister for IT and Rural Development, who seems to have made ignorance his political trademark. When the son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge recently questioned the “talent” of Gujarat and Assam, he wasn’t making an offhand comment — he was flaunting an attitude steeped in arrogance and entitlement.
For someone presiding over a state government fast losing its way, frustration perhaps comes easily. Once hailed as India’s Silicon Valley, Bengaluru today is a city gasping for breath — crippled by unending traffic chaos, vanishing green cover, and failing civic infrastructure. Corporate leaders like Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and Mohandas Pai have publicly lamented the mess. Yet, instead of introspection, Kharge chose insult as his political defence, mocking Gujarat and Assam and asking what “talent” they had to attract central investment and IT projects.
One could have dismissed this as a careless remark from a minister under pressure — but this was no slip of the tongue. It was a full display of dynastic arrogance mixed with regional insecurity. The Congress government in Karnataka is watching helplessly as major projects shift elsewhere — Google choosing Visakhapatnam for its new centre being a glaring example. Rather than ask why investors are losing faith in Karnataka, Kharge picked the easier route — demean other states and question their worth.
Had he paused to open a history book, he might have discovered what “talent” looks like. Gujarat gave India Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Morarji Desai, and today Narendra Modi — leaders who shaped the very foundation of modern India. It’s also home to entrepreneurial dynamos like Ambani and Adani, who turned vision into global success. That, Minister Kharge, is called talent, not privilege.
And Assam? The land of Bhupen Hazarika, Gopinath Bordoloi, and countless others who contributed richly to India’s culture, literature, and politics — often while battling decades of Congress neglect. The state that your party treated as a remote outpost is now emerging as a powerhouse under strong, result-oriented governance.
So, when the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma heard Kharge’s jibe, he did what the rest of India was thinking — he hit back, calling him a “first-class idiot.” Blunt, yes. But it captured the collective outrage of Indians tired of entitled politicians belittling their fellow citizens.
Kharge’s sneer exposes something bigger than personal foolishness — it reveals the Congress mindset that still can’t digest development outside its dynastic orbit. The success of Gujarat, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, or even Andhra Pradesh under non-Congress regimes seems to irritate the party’s sense of inherited superiority. The problem isn’t that these states are progressing; it’s that they’re doing so without Congress.
And here’s the irony — this minister, who questions others’ talent, has displayed precious little himself beyond political bluster. Bengaluru’s decline didn’t begin in Gujarat or Assam; it began right under his nose, aided by his government’s inefficiency, corruption, and apathy. Karnataka deserves a leader who solves problems — not one who shoots his mouth and hides behind his surname.
It’s equally telling that the Congress leadership hasn’t uttered a word of censure. Silence, it seems, is their way of endorsing elitism. After all, when entitlement flows through bloodlines, accountability rarely follows.
Priyank Kharge’s remarks aren’t just ignorant — they’re divisive, demeaning, and deeply un-Indian. This country’s strength lies in its collective enterprise — from the factories of Surat to the tea gardens of Assam, from Bengaluru’s startups to Visakhapatnam’s tech hubs.
If Kharge still can’t recognize the talent beyond his state borders, he should take a long, honest look at his own reflection. He might then discover the real shortage of talent — and humility — starts right there.
