BENGALURU: The BJP has strongly criticised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for taking a private chartered flight back home after holding discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on the drought situation in the State.
The main Opposition party sought to know the need for the CM to take the chartered fight when the State was reeling under severe drought.
Interestingly, Housing Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed, who accompanied Siddaramaiah to Delhi, deleted the video of the flight he had posted on ‘X’ as soon as BJP leaders and netizens started questioning their act of “flaunting rich fortune and luxury lifestyles” when the State is facing drought.
When reporters in Mysuru sought Siddaramaiah’s reaction to the BJP allegation, he asked them to question the saffron party about which flight PM Modi takes.
“How does Modi travel? You tell me first. Please ask this question to the BJP people, which plane does Narendra Modi take? He travels alone. Why does he travel alone? BJP leaders will keep saying silly things,” the CM said.
Earlier, BJP state president BY Vijayendra posted the video on ‘X’ and said, “If bigotry had a face, @INCKarnataka govt would be the Best of it! At a time, when the whole of Karnataka is reeling under drought & with no rain & hardly any development works taking off, all that @CMofKarnataka & his ministers could think of flaunting their Rich Fortunes and luxury Lifestyles over the poor damsels of the State. By the way, they were travelling in this luxurious aircraft to seek funds for drought relief works! What a crude mockery of our distress! Splurging the Taxpayer's money comes so easy for @INCIndia ministers!” P4
BYV, Ashoka slam CM for taking private jet
“....Nation is yet to forget the Money Heist that we saw from a @INCIndia MP! Misgovernance is just aftermath, it’s the Lack of Morality in @INCKarnataka Govt that is the Biggest Concern & Worrisome for Karnataka!(six)” BY Vijayendra posted on ‘X’.
Leader of Opposition R Ashoka, while addressing reporters, showed a picture of the CM in the private jet and another of children travelling by an earthmover to schools due to lack of KSRTC and BMTC buses after the Siddaramaiah government introduced the Shakti guarantee scheme of free travel for women.
Farmers are in distress and they are migrating to Goa and Maharashtra in search of work. Covid cases are increasing in the State. In this situation, the CM, who claims himself a socialist, chose to travel by a private jet, he said.
Senior BJP leader Basanagouda Patil Yatnal too attacked the CM for taking the chartered flight. The CM along with Zameer, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda and his political secretary Govindaraju returned home by the chartered flight on Wednesday. They took an Air India flight to New Delhi on Monday evening. On Friday, the CM took a special flight to Mysuru from HAL airport.