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The office has been renovated with luxurious lighting and interiors. The bathroom has been refurbished with premium fittings. The flooring and the walls too have got a wooden makeover. Not just that, the antechamber too has got a corporate-style remodeling and the office has new…Read More
This is not a personal office, but the CM’s office, and doesn’t Prime Minister Narendra Modi spend hundreds of crores on flights, said Dinesh Gundu Rao, health minister of Karnataka. Image/News18
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, an avowed socialist, is facing flak from the opposition after his office in the Vidhana Soudha got a posh makeover. The office in room number 323 of the Vidhana Soudha has been renovated with luxurious lighting and interiors. The bathroom has been refurbished with premium fittings. The flooring and the walls too have got a wooden makeover. Not just that, the antechamber too has got a corporate-style remodeling and the office has new furniture and appliances.
Sources in the government say a whopping Rs 2.5 crore has been spent on the renovation, even as the city roads have been pothole-ridden since the monsoon season began.
Officials in the chief minister’s office say the renovation wasn’t triggered by any Vastu changes suggested by astrologers. “There was some seepage and water leakage, but the chamber layout has not been changed,” said a source in the CMO.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has hit out at the chief minister. “Siddaramaiah’s socialist mask has fallen, he is wasting money on such renovation,” said BJP state president BY Vijayendra.
Doddaballapura MLA Dheeraj Muniraju questioned the priorities of the government. “Only Rs 85 lakh grant has been given for the whole of Doddaballapur constituency. We have more than 1 lakh kilometres of roads but he is spending Rs 2.5 crore for his own purpose,” said Muniraju. Doddaballapura is seeing investment from electronics manufacturer Foxconn.
The ruling Congress has defended the move. “This has nothing to do with the infrastructure of the state. This is not a personal office, but the CM’s office. Doesn’t Prime Minister Narendra Modi spend hundreds of crores on flights? According to the BJP, there should be no refurbishing of any government offices,” said Dinesh Gundu Rao, health minister of Karnataka.
The renovation includes premium luxurious lighting and interior decoration (procured from The White Teak Company), new flooring and ceiling work, new electrical fittings and AC work, washroom completely renovated with new premium fittings added, antechamber/resting room renovated, new furniture fittings and appliances.
This is not the first time that Siddaramaiah has faced criticism for splurging taxpayers’ money. In his first term, he spent Rs 1.92 crore on the renovation of his two official residences and home office. In the present term, he has faced flak for building a new conference hall after demolishing a lawn and garden inside the chief minister’s official bungalow.
