Karnataka minister refuses to obey Centre’s ban on red beacons for VIPs

Congress leader UT Khader said it was the Karnataka government that had given him the car with a red beacon light, not the Centre, and he had no right to alter it.

A Karnataka minister has refused to fall in line with the central government’s ban on red beacons on VIP vehicles, saying he would remove it if chief minister Siddaramaiah instructs him to do so.

The Centre banned red beacons on VIP vehicles last month. (HT File Photo)

“If the chief minister asks me to remove the red beacon light, I will obey his instruction and remove it,” food and civil supplies minister UT Khader said.

Khader said it was the state government that had given him the car with a red beacon light, not central government, and he had no right to alter it.

“I do not have power to alter my car. It is left to the cabinet to decide,” he told reporters in Mangaluru on Monday.

Khader also said he would not object to the ban on red beacon light on VIP vehicles but the government should bring in schemes that will fill stomachs of people and provide education.

“Let the central government bring into force such a notification, I am not saying no, but most importantly it should introduce schemes wherein it is possible to fill the stomachs of people and provide education,” the Congress minister said.

The aim of the government should bring people to the level of VIP, he added.

He also said, “I am not moving around with the red beacon light placed on my head. It is installed on my car.”

The Union Cabinet had last month decided to end the flashing of red beacons with effect from May 1 to end the VIP culture.