Nov. 8: Though the crisis in the state BJP has finally come to an end, it has taken a heavy toll on the state with the cost of the trips undertaken by ministers and MLAs running into several lakhs.
On October 16, chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had directed the government machinery to adopt austerity measures to save money for flood relief. The inability of the BJP leadership to come up with a quick solution, virtually forced ministers, MLAs, MLCs and the chief minister to fly to New Delhi for briefings.
In fact, Sunday saw 10 more ministers from Mr Yeddyurappa’s camp flying to Delhi. Thanks to their visits, the state has incurred travel expenses of over Rs 10 lakh. And this is just a rough estimate.
Assembly Speaker Jagadish Shettar, projected by the Reddy brothers as a potential chief minister candidate, flew to Delhi on November 28. Ministers R. Ashok, Katta Subramanya Naidu and K.S. Eshwarappa, MLCs D.H. Shankaramurthy, Mukhyamantri Chandru and Ganesh Karnik besides a huge entourage of officials followed suit.
Mr Yeddyurappa himself flew in a special aircraft from Hubli to New Delhi on November 4, which cost the state exchequer nearly Rs 6 lakh. Ten ministers, including Basavaraj Bommai, Hartal Halappa, C.M. Udasi and Umesh Katti flew to Delhi on Sunday to be part of senior party leader L.K. Advani’s 82nd birthday celebrations. The office staffs of these ministers were quick to defend their bosses claiming they had all flown economy class.
Even assuming that only 30 of them travelled to Delhi, it would have left the state poorer by Rs 3.6 lakh.
This apart, the members enjoy benefits like TA, DA and allowances.
The Speaker enjoys an allowance of Rs 1,000 every day when he is outside the state on an official visit. Mr Shettar went to New Delhi on October 28 and returned to Bengaluru on November 7.
He is now eligible to claim Rs 10,000 on this visit alone.
Ashwini Y.S.
Bengaluru