Karnataka CM spent Rs 20L on flying visit to Delhi

BANGALORE: When it came to kissa kursi ka, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa didn't mind spending lakhs of rupees on a 'flying visit' to New Delhi. It turns out that at the height of rebel activity in the first week of November, Yeddyurappa spent Rs 20 lakh on a chartered flight to Delhi to meet the party bosses.

This emerged from an RTI query put by TOI under the Right to Information Act.

The amount was blown away on a flight from Bangalore to Hubli and to New Delhi on November 4. Though Yeddyurappa chose to make the trip official as he met Union ministers on the flood issue, the main reason was summons by BJP's central leadership, which was trying to bring him and the Reddy brothers, pioneering the rebellion, to the negotiation table. But it turned out to be a wasted trip as the talks did not take place. The Reddy brothers who were firm in their stand did not attend the talks.

The cost was precisely Rs 19,88,100. The RTI reply said: "The trip was official and the flight was from Hubli to New Delhi." It was a reply to a query on the air travel cost of the CM to New Delhi between October 1 and November 8.

According to sources, the aircraft, VT-RAN, flew from Bangalore to Hubli with the CM, some ministers and a couple of officials on board. Yeddyurappa was to inaugurate the symbolic shifting of flood-affected villages in Arahatti village in Navalgund taluk of Dharwad district on November 4. After the function, the flight took off to New Delhi.