1 month ago
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Chief Minister Siddaramaiah connected Thursday defended his usage of aerial travel, countering the Opposition disapproval by citing expenditure incurred by erstwhile governments and questioning spending by the Centre.
Replying during a treatment connected the Budget successful the Legislative Council, Mr. Siddaramaiah said aerial question was indispensable to negociate authoritative engagements efficiently. “As Chief Minister, I person to be aggregate programmes. To prevention time, I request to question by air,” helium said.
He sought to gully a examination with the tenure of erstwhile Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, stating that astir ₹37 crore had been spent by him connected aerial question successful 2021-22. “Why did you not question it then?” helium asked the Opposition members.
Selective criticism
Providing details of his ain tenure, Mr. Siddaramaiah said expenditure connected aerial question stood astatine astir ₹12 crore successful 2023-24, ₹21 crore successful 2024-25 and ₹29 crore successful 2025-26. “Which is higher - ₹37 crore oregon ₹29 crore?” helium asked, arguing that the disapproval was selective.
He referred to expenditure connected overseas visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that implicit ₹814 crore had been spent, and questioned whether that was not “wasteful”.
Leader of the Opposition Chalavadi Narayanaswamy objected to the comparison, saying the Chief Minister should not mention the Centre’s expenditure. He maintained that the Opposition was questioning the usage of aerial question for comparatively abbreviated distances.
Responding, Mr. Siddaramaiah said decisions connected question were guided by administrative necessity. “Even for distances of 40 to 60 km, we whitethorn usage aerial question if required,” helium said, reiterating that akin practices were followed by erstwhile governments without objection.
