NEW DELHI: Karnataka’s opposition BJP on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and deputy CM DK Shivakumar for allegedly prioritising Rahul Gandhi over German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who landed in Bengaluru for his visit to India.The allegations follow the Congress leaders’ presence in Mysuru to receive senior party leader Rahul Gandhi, who was transiting to neighbouring Tamil Nadu. In a post on X, LoP in the state assembly R Ashoka accused the Congress government of “misplaced priorities and missed opportunities”. He said that welcoming the head of government from one of the world’s strongest economies had been relegated to the back seat, while “political loyalty and high command pleasing” were given precedence over Karnataka’s global standing.The LoP wrote, “Whose interests come first, Karnataka’s or the High Command’s? Today, the Chancellor of Germany—one of the world’s most powerful economic forces—arrived in our Karnataka. Any responsible Chief Minister would welcome such a global leader and leverage this meeting for the state’s progress. They would view this encounter with a global leader as a golden opportunity to boost investment, job creation, and industrial development in our state. “He further went on to lay charges on the leaders to betray Karnataka. “This isn’t merely a lapse in protocol; it’s a betrayal of Karnataka’s interests,” he wrote.Merz, on the second day of his two-day official visit to India, arrived in Bengaluru and visited the Bosch campus at Adugodi.He also visited the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE) at the Indian Institute of Science before departing from the city, official sources said.Ashoka further went on to add that the German chancellor’s visit was of “immense diplomatic, economic and strategic significance” for Karnataka. “But while the German chancellor landed in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar chose to be in Mysuru to receive Rahul Gandhi, who was merely transiting to Ooty (Gudalur in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu). Let that sink in,” Ashoka added.”Karnataka deserves leadership that puts the state before the party, progress before power politics, and global opportunities before political appeasement,” he said, adding that the Congress “had failed” the state.