Comparing Bengaluru with Hyderabad is ridiculous, says Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai

Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai has termed Telangana minister KT Rama Rao's 'comparison' of Bengaluru with Hyderabad ridiculous, insisting Bengaluru was 'way ahead' of other cities and home to the largest number of startups and unicorns in India.

Investors were flocking to Bengaluru from all over the world, Bommai said when asked about Rao's statement. "Each startup in Bengaluru commands billions of dollars in value," Bommai said. A war of words broke out between Rao and Karnataka IT/BT minister CN Ashwath Narayana and Congress president DK Shivakumar after Rao urged startups unhappy with Bengaluru's infrastructure to move into Hyderabad.

Rao highlighted the row in Karnataka over 'halal' and ban on wearing hijab to classrooms and said that such issues ruined India's reputation as an investment destination. Bommai disagreed with Rao's assessment and said Karnataka topped the country in FDI inflows in the last three quarters. It would, therefore, be absurd to compare Karnataka with Telangana or Bengaluru with Hyderabad, he said.


Ashwath Narayan in a tweet, said his state was not in a rat race. "Our focus is to collaborate and compete at a global level. Unfortunately, some states are piggybacking on our journey in the name of 'healthy competition'. We are on a marathon mission of building an AatmaNirbharBharat." BJP leader P Muralidhar Rao, who hails from Telangana, defended the Karnataka BJP regime. Bengaluru cut 551 startup deals worth $21.5 billion, while Hyderabad got 54 deals worth $0.5 billion in 2021, while asking Shivakumar and KTR to 'pack their bags'.