K’taka minister refuses to obey beacon ban

Mangaluru, May 2

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A Karnataka minister has refused to fall in line with the Union Government’s ban on red beacons atop VIP vehicles, saying he would remove it if Chief Minister Siddaramaiah instructed him to do so.

“If the Chief Minister asks me to remove the red beacon, I will obey his instruction and remove it,” Food and Civil Supplies Minister UT Khader said.

He said it was the state government that had given him the car with a red beacon, not the Centre, and he had no right to alter it. “I do not have power to alter my car. It is left to the Cabinet to decide,” he told reporters here yesterday.

Khader also said he would not object to the ban on red beacon on VIP vehicles, but most importantly, the government should bring in schemes that would fill stomachs of people and provide education. — PTI