Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has spent Rs 13.07 crore on his air travel between May 13, 2013 and November 31, 2014.
Details provided by the State government on an RTI application filed by T Naramsimha Murthy revealed that for Siddaramaiah’s travel, the State took services of six aviation companies namely, Chipsan Aviation Pvt Ltd- New Delhi, OSS Air Management Pvt Ltd- New Delhi, Spice Jet Limited- Gurgaon in Haryana, GMR Aviation Pvt Ltd- Bengaluru, GMP Air Charter- Bengaluru and Deccan Charter Pvt Ltd – Bengaluru.
Some of the works on which State exchequer’s money was spent on Siddaramaiah’s air travel was for attending the marriages of the children of MLAs and other political leaders, felicitation to political leaders and renowned persons.
According to the list comprising 27 pages provided to Murthy, the chief minister flew to Sindhanur in Raichur district to attend the marriage of Sindhanur MLA Hampanagowda Badarli on June 2, 2013, participating in the District Congress Committee felicitation programme on July 7, 2013, offering Baginas at Cauvery and Krishna rivers in August 2013, Congress party events at KR Nagar and Mandya in August 2013.
Murthy said his understanding is that the helicopters should be used for public purposes and not for attending marriages and Congress party events.
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