Bengaluru: Each time Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah decides to take the aerial route from Bengaluru to his home district of Mysuru, it costs the taxpayer between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 20 lakh.
In March last year, Siddaramaiah travelled to Mysuru twice in two days in a chartered aircraft that cost over Rs 34.5 lakh, shows state government data.
That’s a one-way distance of under 150 km that takes even common commuters less than Rs 2,000 worth of fuel and toll, as well as travel time of under two hours on the swanky new expressway between the two cities.
The Karnataka government, in a written response to Janata Dal (Secular) leader T.N. Javarayi Gowda’s question in the legislative council, disclosed details of chartered aircraft and helicopter usage by the CM, deputy CM, Karnataka governor, and the former Chief Justice of India from March 2023 to January 2025.
Siddaramaiah alone accounted for nearly Rs 32 crore of the Rs 34 crore worth of bills for usage of chartered aircraft in this period.
The state government also included former CJI D.Y. Chandrachud’s three charters in its data. He travelled from Bengaluru to Madurai and back on 19 July, 2024, and then from Bengaluru to Mysuru and back on 3 October last year. He even travelled in a chartered aircraft to Tirupati on 26 March last year that cost Rs 10,85,600. In total, his three trips cost Karnataka over Rs 45 lakh, the data showed.
Siddaramaiah’s deputy D.K. Shivakumar chartered a helicopter for a round trip from HAL airport in east Bengaluru to the city’s international airport in the north. The data shows that this trip, which lasts less than an hour, cost the state Rs 7,19,800.
Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot’s air travel between January 2023 and July 2024 cost the state exchequer Rs 1,75,62,466, according to the data released by the government. This included Gehlot’s trips to Mumbai and Indore. In one instance, Gehlot chartered an aircraft from Bengaluru’s HAL airport to Hubbali airport and back on 1 March last year and then again 5 days later. The two trips cost Rs 12,78,333 each time.
The data also shows that barely a week after assuming the CM’s chair in May 2023, Siddaramaiah chartered an aircraft from Bengaluru’s HAL to Delhi. This cost Rs 41,53,600. He was accompanied by his trusted lieutenants when negotiations for cabinet berths in the newly formed Karnataka government were at the peak.
The Congress and the BJP have traded barbs on the cost of using private charters for frequent travels within and outside the state for official work.
The BJP has come down hard on Siddaramaiah’s travel expenses in the last two years.
The CM landing at various helipads and runways is a common sight. According to the data presented in the council, Siddaramaiah’s chartered aircraft and helicopter bills have crossed Rs 32 crore since he came to power.
“Rahul Gandhi criticises (PM Narendra) Modi on the clothes, coat, watch and shoes he wears… but Siddaramaiah’s helicopter travels run into crores,” R. Ashoka, Leader of the Opposition of Karnataka Legislative Assembly, said to reporters Thursday.
The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader alleged that the Congress had become an expert on how to utilise public money for personal benefit.
However, Ramalinga Reddy, Karnataka’s Minister for Transport, spoke in the CM’s defence.
“The CM has to travel to all 31 districts of the state. There are flights to Mangaluru and Kalaburagi two to three times a week but not on other days or to other places. In Ballari, there is a flight to Thoranagal… but he has to go to other places as well and there is paucity of time,” he told reporters Thursday.
“Not just our CM, but his counterparts in other states also use helicopters for travel. I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
Also Read: Cash-strapped Karnataka govt considers reviving plan to develop satellite towns around Bengaluru
Congress doles
The Congress-led Karnataka government has also come under fire for doling out cabinet berths allegedly to placate dissenting voices within its ranks, and for giving salaries to party workers from the state coffers.
A cabinet rank comes with a staff strength of around 14 people, a house, an office, an official car with a police escort, and increased salary, based on the CM’s discretion.
In February last year, ThePrint reported that Siddaramaiah had given “cabinet-rank” status to around 56 people outside his council of ministers.
The people given this rank include advisers to the government—the CM has a legal, media, medical and even a ‘general’ adviser, apart from a ‘special’ adviser—as well as chairpersons of various boards and committees.
The state government further drew criticism after it decided to appoint its party workers in committees formed to monitor the implementation of its guarantee schemes.
The government had decided to extend facilities of cabinet ranks and minister of state to the president and five vice-presidents of a state level committee, as well as a monthly honorarium between Rs 25,000 and Rs 40,000 to presidents of district and taluk-level committees.
The BJP estimated that the Congress was paying Rs 60 crore of public money to party workers. Shivakumar intervened at the time, stating that “it is the will of the government” to reward party workers who brought it to power.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: What’s behind Siddaramaiah’s invite to 8 CMs for discussion on fiscal federalism
