Does being prime minister mean he is dictator of country: CM Siddaramaiah
Hassan (Karnataka), Nov 7: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday wondered whether being a prime minister means becoming a dictator, hours after his predecessor B S Yediyurappa accused him of making "irresponsible" comments about the Narendra Modi government.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru earlier in the day, Yediyurappa hit out at Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar for their comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government.
"If they have the arrogance to criticise the prime minister who is respected globally, people will teach them a lesson," the former chief minister said.
Hitting back, Siddaramaiah said, "Does being a prime minister mean he is the dictator of the country? Should he (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) speak against me?
"What is there to talk about Karnataka during the election campaigning in Madhya Pradesh? There is an election happening in Madhya Pradesh, why is he talking about Karnataka?" Siddaramaiah asked.
When asked whether Siddaramaiah thought that PM Modi was scared of him, the Karnataka chief minister said, "It is possible. I also think so."
To the allegation that he often blamed the BJP-led Union government for everything, including the drought, the chief minister said he was only asking for money from the Centre to deal with the severe drought in the state.
"Shouldn't we ask for money? Is asking for money equivalent to picking up a fight? We live in a federal system. The Centre and the states should function in coordination. If there is drought in Karnataka, then the Centre has a responsibility (towards it)," Siddaramaiah said.
He pointed out that the people of Karnataka pay taxes to the Centre and hence they too have the right to ask for money.
"Who pays taxes to Centre? Is it not the people of the state who pay taxes to the Centre? Is there any other set of people who pays taxes to the Centre?" Siddaramaiah posed.
The chief minister said the state has suffered a crop loss to the tune of Rs 33,700 crore due to drought. Accordingly, Karnataka has demanded Rs 17,900 crore from the Centre, he said.
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Patna-bound IndiGo flight makes emergency landing at Lucknow due to bad weather
Lucknow (PTI): Adverse weather forced an IndiGo Kolkata-Patna flight to make an emergency landing at Lucknow airport on Friday, airport sources said.
According to airport officials, weather conditions in Patna deteriorated suddenly on Friday afternoon, affecting flight operations.
IndiGo flight 6E 6917 from Kolkata, which was scheduled to land in Patna at 3.50 pm, could not land due to bad weather and kept circling in the air after failing to get clearance from air traffic control, they said.
The flight was later diverted to Lucknow and landed safely at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport at around 5.15 pm. There were 180 passengers and six crew members on board, officials said.
The aircraft was later allowed to depart for Patna after weather conditions improved.
