BJP Slams Siddaramaiah Over ₹47-Crore Air Travel Bill
BJP leader CT Ravi questions Karnataka CM’s “socialist” image as records show extensive helicopter, chartered flights since 2023
- Govt records show Siddaramaiah’s air travel cost Karnataka over ₹47 crore in 2.5 years.
- BJP’s CT Ravi mocks CM as shifting from “Samajwadi” to “Majawadi”.
- Congress defends CM, says trips are official and justified given his age.
- Data reveals sharp surge in charter expenses in FY 2024–25.
GG News Bureau
Bengaluru, 12th Dec: BJP leader CT Ravi on Thursday took aim at Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after newly released government records revealed that the state has spent over ₹47 crore on the CM’s helicopter and chartered aircraft travel between May 2023 and November 2025.
Mocking Siddaramaiah’s long-projected socialist image, Ravi said the Chief Minister had transformed from “Samajwadi to Majawadi”, suggesting that he now favours personal comfort and luxury. “He avoids roads because of their poor conditions. The people of the state are paying for his air travel,” Ravi alleged.
The expenditure details were shared in the Legislative Council in response to a question by BJP MLC N. Ravi Kumar, who sought information on the CM’s official travel costs.
According to the government’s written reply, the state spent ₹12.23 crore on chartered flights for Siddaramaiah and his entourage in the 2023–24 financial year. The list includes frequent journeys between Bengaluru’s HAL Airport and districts such as Mysuru, Hubballi, Belagavi and Kalaburagi.
The bill escalated further in 2024–25, reaching ₹21.11 crore, with records documenting extensive helicopter tours across Udupi, Chitradurga, Haveri, Bidar and Kalaburagi, alongside fixed-wing flights to Chennai, Hyderabad and other major cities.
A separate annexure for October–November 2025 showed an additional ₹14.03 crore spent on charter services, many entries noted as “CM and others Aircraft sector.”
Responding to the controversy, Siddaramaiah’s economic advisor and Congress MLA Basavaraj Raya Reddy defended the CM, arguing that the travel expenses were justified and entirely official. “He is 79 and uses helicopters only for work. What’s wrong with that? This is not a big amount compared to the thousands of crores spent by the Prime Minister,” he said.
The disclosures have sparked a renewed political battle over governance spending and the optics of luxury travel by leaders who advocate socialist principles.
