At a time when Karnataka is striving hard to tackle its drought crisis, Karnataka Excise Minister, Manohar Tahsildar, has managed to get his way — a luxury car, Fortuner, for himself.

The minister managed to get a Fortuner officially sanctioned for himself instead of an Innova which is the standard car for all the ministers. As per reports, the state has gone ahead and sanctioned around Rs 27 lakhs to fulfil this ‘VIP’ demand.

In support of his argument, the Minister said that he suffers from a severe back pain and has to travel around 800 kms every week. The Department of Personal and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) initially refused the minister’s demand stating that according to the protocol they could only sanction a car costing around Rs 16 lakhs.

The Excise Minister went further ahead and pressurised the Chief Minister finally getting his demand fulfilled. On March 30th, nearly Rs 37 lakhs were sanctioned to buy a fully-loaded, top model Fortuner.

Many are questioning if such a demand should be prioritised when around 136 talukas in the state have been declared as drought affected.

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