BJP targets CM Siddaramaiah over KSTDC promoting Wayanad
Bengaluru(PTI): The Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation's (KSTDC) social media post promoting Wayanad in neighbouring Kerala as a tourist destination has drawn criticism from opposition BJP, which has hit out at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, calling it "high command appeasement" to save chair.
Congress top leader Priyanka Gandhi is the Member of Parliament from Wayanad.
The KSTDC's post on 'X' on October 28, promoting its two-night and three-day tour package to the hill station said, " Seeking thrill or tranquillity? Find both in Wayanad! Trek scenic trails, chase waterfalls & meet the wild with KSTDC. Your perfect nature escape awaits."
Reacting to this, BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in Assembly, R Ashoka asked Siddaramaiah as to how long will Karnataka tolerate a Chief Minister who behaves like "Wayanad's District Collector and fund raiser"?
"You (Siddaramaiah) signed off Rs 10 crore of Karnataka taxpayers' money to Wayanad at lightning speed. You gave away Rs 15 lakhs to the family of a man killed by an elephant. You announced to build 100 houses in Wayanad after landslide. You used KSTDC, Karnataka's own tourism corporation, to promote Wayanad tourism - Priyanka Gandhi's constituency," he posted on 'X' on Thursday.
Pointing out that north Karnataka faced floods, he further said, farmers are suffering, homes washed away, 12.5 lakh hectares of crop damage, but compensation still stuck in files, surveys, excuses, speeches and photo-ops.
"Where is the compensation and flood relief for Kalaburagi, Raichur, Yadgir, Bidar, Vijayapura, Bagalkot and Belagavi? Where is the urgency? What are your priorities?" He asked.
Accusing the CM of moving money to another state faster than he moved money to his own disaster-hit farmers, the BJP leader claimed, "This is not charity. This is High command appeasement to save chair."
"Karnataka doesn't need a CM who bows to the Fake Gandhi Family, spends our treasury like it's High Command's ATM, and forgets his own state's farmers who put food on his table," he said.
"We elected a Chief Minister of Karnataka, not a Puppet of Delhi, not a Brand Ambassador of Wayanad," Ashoka said.
Urging the CM to release full compensation to farmers immediately, he said, "Stop looting Karnataka's money to please fake Gandhi family. Karnataka First. Not Wayanad First."
Another BJP leader and former Minister C T Ravi said, the KSTDC, which is supposed to develop tourism in Karnataka, is inviting Kannadigas to Wayanad.
"Does Wayanad belong to Karnataka? Or has KSTDC become Kerala? The Congress government is going to pawn the honour of Kannada Nadu to please its party leader Priyanka Gandhi," he posted on 'X'.
ನಮ್ಮ KSTDC ಇರುವುದು ಕರ್ನಾಟಕಕ್ಕೋ, ಕೇರಳಕ್ಕೋ ತಿಳಿಯುತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ!
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) October 29, 2025
ಸಿಎಂ @siddaramaiah ಮತ್ತು ಸಚಿವ @HKPatilINC ಅವರೇ, ನಮ್ಮ ಚಿಕ್ಕಮಗಳೂರು, ಕೊಡಗು, ಉತ್ತರ ಕನ್ನಡ, ಶಿವಮೊಗ್ಗ ಕಾಣಲಿಲ್ಲವೇ? ನಿಮ್ಮ ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕಾ ಗಾಂಧಿಯನ್ನು ಮೆಚ್ಚಿಸಲು ನಮ್ಮ ಕರುನಾಡನ್ನೇ ಕಡೆಗಣಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೀರಾ?
ವಯನಾಡಿನ ಜನರಿಗೆ ಮನೆ, ಆನೆ ದಾಳಿಯಿಂದ… pic.twitter.com/ZPe5KHCsOf
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
