Siddaramaiah counters criticism over air travel expenses

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday defended his use of air travel, countering the Opposition criticism by citing expenditure incurred by previous governments and questioning spending by the Centre.

Replying during a discussion on the Budget in the Legislative Council, Mr. Siddaramaiah said air travel was necessary to manage official engagements efficiently. “As Chief Minister, I have to attend multiple programmes. To save time, I need to travel by air,” he said.

He sought to draw a comparison with the tenure of former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, stating that about ₹37 crore had been spent by him on air travel in 2021-22. “Why did you not question it then?” he asked the Opposition members.

Selective criticism

Providing details of his own tenure, Mr. Siddaramaiah said expenditure on air travel stood at about ₹12 crore in 2023-24, ₹21 crore in 2024-25 and ₹29 crore in 2025-26. “Which is higher –  ₹37 crore or ₹29 crore?” he asked, arguing that the criticism was selective.

He referred to expenditure on foreign visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that over ₹814 crore had been spent, and questioned whether that was not “wasteful”.

Leader of the Opposition Chalavadi Narayanaswamy objected to the comparison, saying the Chief Minister should not cite the Centre’s expenditure. He maintained that the Opposition was questioning the use of air travel for relatively short distances.

Responding, Mr. Siddaramaiah said decisions on travel were guided by administrative necessity. “Even for distances of 40 to 60 km, we may use air travel if required,” he said, reiterating that similar practices were followed by previous governments without objection.