Karnataka BJP has criticised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for travelling in a private jet to New Delhi while the state is facing a drought-like situation. “People of the state are under severe economic crisis due to the drought situation. Even six months after the Congress government came to power, not a single effort has been made to address the pothole issue,” BJP Karnataka wrote on X.

“But, there seems to be no end to the show-off of grandeur by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his close associate Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmad Khan,” the BJP said. BJP alleged that the Chief Minister’s enjoyment and fun while traveling on the private jet is all about mocking the poor people of the state.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah travelled in a private jet to New Delhi with Minister for Housing B.Z. Zameer Ahmad Khan and Minister for Revenue Krishna Byre Gowda. Zameer, while sharing a video from the flight, captioned it as, “happy moments spent with our proud leader CM Siddaramaiah.”

The CM and ministers had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on December 19 and sought funds for flood relief. Soon after the meeting, Krishna Byre Gowda had said, "Along with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, we met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested him to immediately release the relief for the state. 236 taluks of the state have been declared drought affected and Rs 18171.44 crore has been requested as drought relief amount from NDRF.  There is confidence in getting the compensation money soon."

Meanwhile, Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said that there was nothing wrong in the CM and ministers travelling on a chartered flight. "To save time, they (CM and cabinet ministers) are using chartered aircraft to visit Delhi and return from there. So what is the issue with that? As far as drought relief is concerned, the central government is yet to release the funds but the BJP leaders in the state do not dare to ask the PM for the same," he said.