Bengaluru, Apr 13: BJP MP and former Union Minister V Srinivas Prasad has announced his retirement from politics, and said he would not be contesting in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

During an election campaign in favour of Gundlupet BJP candidate C S Niranjan Kumar, who will contest the May 10 Assembly election, the 75-year-old said the current term in the Lok Sabha would be his last.

 

According to sources close to him, the six-time Chamarajnagar MP made the announcement as ''there is an unofficial age bar (75 years) in the BJP for leaders to contest in polls or hold official positions''.

He quit the Congress in 2016 after being dropped as a minister in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet and joined the BJP. He resigned from the Assembly seeking a fresh mandate on a BJP ticket but lost the contest.

The veteran MP successfully contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha election on a BJP ticket.

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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister M B Patil on Saturday said the state government has fast-tracked approvals for investment projects and taken measures to cut red tape.

He said that since 2022, Karnataka has approved 2,028 projects worth Rs 5.11 lakh crore, which could create 7.16 lakh jobs.

Of these, Rs 69,564 crore has already been realised, generating 1.06 lakh jobs, he added.

“Karnataka fast-tracks approvals, cuts red tape,” the Minister for Large & Medium Industries said.

“Clear results of our government’s push to speed up approval processes are now evident. Not only have investment agreements been secured, but effective implementation is also underway,” he said in a post on X.

He added that simplified and swift approval processes are boosting investor confidence and providing greater impetus to industrial growth across the state.

“Karnataka’s investment-friendly environment is further strengthened by its culture of ease of doing business,” he said.

Noting that Karnataka is fast-tracking approvals and aligning departments and districts for on-ground delivery, the minister said: “We have overhauled 18 key approvals, cutting land use change clearance time from 120 to 45 days, fire NOC from 60 to 21 days, factory plan approvals from 30 to 14 days, and electrical approvals to just 10 days.”

In a competitive landscape, Karnataka is acting decisively to ensure faster decisions, fewer delays, and a truly pro-industry ecosystem, he added.