Highly improper, says Pralhad Joshi on Karnataka CM''s ''luxury'' flight

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday said it was ''highly improper'' for Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to travel in a luxurious private aircraft from Delhi to Bengaluru when the state was reeling under severe drought condition.

Joshi's remarks came after a video of Siddaramaiah and his ministerial colleagues B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan and Krishna Byregowda traveling in the plush aircraft went viral on social media.

The video was posted by Khan with a message in Kannada: ''Happy moments of traveling from Delhi to Bengaluru with our proud leader, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.'' ''It is highly improper to travel in such a luxurious aircraft at this time,'' Joshi said, referring to the severe drought conditions in Karnataka.

''We can understand if a place does not have regular air services, but there are so many flights between Delhi and Bangalore,'' he said.

The senior BJP leader also took a dig at the donation drive launched by the Congress.

''I think this donation drive is only to turn the black money stashed with Congress leaders to white,'' Joshi said.

BJP IT Cell in-charge Amit Malviya said: ''On the one hand, Congress is pretending to crowdfund and didn't even serve samosas in I.N.D.I Alliance meeting, on the other, Zameer Ahmed Khan, Cabinet Minister for Housing, Waqf and Minority Affairs in Karnataka Govt, is flaunting his pictures with CM Siddaramaiah in a private jet.'' ''They apparently had 'happy moments' traveling together to Delhi, to seek funds for drought relief. Irony died a million times. Karnataka is reeling under mis-governance but Congress's loot must continue,'' Malviya said on X.