Karnataka Congress minister Zameer Ahmed is facing the Opposition heat for flaunting a private jet in which he along with chief minister Siddaramaiah travelled to New Delhi to ask for drought relief funds for the state. Karnataka BJP chief Vijayendra Yediyurappa called it a "crude mockery" of Karnataka’s distress and misuse of taxpayers' money.
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On Thursday, Karnataka minister Zameer Ahmed who is known for his wide presence on social media, shared a video where he was seen walking through the lavish private jet and posing for pictures inside it. He even added the popular movie KGF’s music to it and put out a video on his official social media handle.
Vijayendra said, “If bigotry had a face, @INCKarnataka govt would be the Best of it. At a time, when whole of Karnataka is reeling under severe drought, farmers staring at the worst of crisis with loss of crops & no rainfall & hardly any development works taking off , all that @CMofKarnataka& his team of cabinet ministers could think of is flaunting their Rich Fortunes & Luxury Lifestyles over the poor damsels of the State!”
{{/usCountry}}Vijayendra said, “If bigotry had a face, @INCKarnataka govt would be the Best of it. At a time, when whole of Karnataka is reeling under severe drought, farmers staring at the worst of crisis with loss of crops & no rainfall & hardly any development works taking off , all that @CMofKarnataka& his team of cabinet ministers could think of is flaunting their Rich Fortunes & Luxury Lifestyles over the poor damsels of the State!”
{{/usCountry}}He also alleged that the Congress lacked morality and splurged taxpayers’ money for all kinds of luxuries. “Splurging the Taxpayers money comes so easy for @INCIndia ministers! Nation is yet to forget the Money Heist that we saw from a @INCIndiaMP! Misgovernance is just an aftermath, its the Lack of Morality in @INCKarnataka govt that is the Biggest Concern & Worrisome for Karnataka,” added the state BJP chief.
When questioned about the controversy, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Friday said, “You must ask PM Narendra Modi the same question. How does he travel often?”
On Tuesday, Siddaramaiah along with a batch of ministers travelled to New Delhi to meet various union leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to ask for funds for drought relief.
Siddaramaiah has requested the PM to provide input a subsidy for the farmers in the state who are hit by the drought. As crop failure due to lack of rain led to a difficult situation, Siddaramaiah said the farmers needed input subsidy and asked the central government to release the fund as a priority.
In October, 216 taluks out of the total of 236 taluks in Karnataka were declared as drought-affected out of which 189 are severe drought-hit and 27 are moderate drought-hit taluks.