Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel in Mysuru to be handed over to private firms; state govt to call tenders
Bengaluru: Lalitha Mahal Palace, the five-star heritage hotel in Mysuru, will be handed over to private operators, with the Cabinet of ministers in Karnataka clearing the proposal to invite tenders for the palace during a meeting on Thursday.
The iconic structure, constructed in 1921, was run as a heritage hotel from 1974 to 2018 by the Ashok Group for the Indian Tourism Development Corporation before it was handed over to the state government in 2018. Currently, it is in the charge of the government enterprise Jungle Lodges and Resorts, however, as the state government was finding the maintenance of the heritage hotel a burden, the Cabinet has decided to hand over the reins to a private firm, reports The Indian Express.
Karnataka Law Minister HK Patil, when asked about the issue, confirmed that the works of maintenance, management, repairs and modernization of the Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel in Mysuru will be handed over from the Jungle Lodges and Resorts to private companies. Tenders will be called to appoint a hotel operator, the minister added, on Thursday.
“The Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel, nevertheless, will be preserved as a heritage property, regardless of modernization. The government was finding it difficult maintain five-star hotels, which requires a high investment of Rs 40-50 crore, especially due to low occupancy and decided to hand over the responsibility to private companies,” Patil explained.
The minister, however, clarified, “Jungle Lodges and Resorts is not running at a loss but is also not making profits. The facilities it provides at the hotel, including the number of rooms, are limited.”
Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel was built by the Maharaja of Mysore Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV as a place of residence for the British Governor General of India. It is modelled on the St Paul’s Cathedral in London and the second largest palace in Mysore after the Maharajah’s palace.
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BJP has history of ‘contradictory alliances’, says BK Hariprasad
Bengaluru: Congress MLC B. K. Hariprasad has launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing the party of hypocrisy over its criticism of alliance politics in Tamil Nadu.
In a post on X on Friday, Hariprasad said BJP leader B. L. Santhosh criticising the Congress party’s alliance politics in Tamil Nadu was “not just laughable, but the height of political contradiction.”
He said the Congress has always joined hands with like-minded parties to protect secular and democratic values in the country.
Hariprasad questioned the BJP over several of its past and present alliances across the country. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tripura, Bihar and Maharashtra, he accused the BJP of sharing power with parties it had earlier criticised.
He alleged that the BJP had aligned with separatist and corruption-linked political forces in different states for political gains.
“The BJP, which speaks against alliances today, should first look at its own political history,” he said, adding that the party’s record was full of “contradictions and changing stands.”
Hariprasad also accused the BJP of using central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and CBI as political tools to target opposition leaders, topple governments and influence electoral mandates.
He further claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu had strongly rejected the BJP and its ideology in the recent election.
“Congress forms alliances to protect the Constitution, secularism and national unity, while the BJP enters into alliances only for power,” he said.
