Netas want yuppie cars

Sowmya Aji Mehu / TNN / Apr 17, 2006, 23:48 IST

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When the ministry is young, shouldn't its transport be yuppie?.

BANGALORE: When the ministry is young, shouldn't its transport be yuppie? So ask our new ministers. With the Bangalorean going for top-end models - Octavia, Innova, Scorpio,Honda CRV, Chevrolet Forrester, Nissan X Trail, Land Cruiser Prado - our neta log want similar vehicles.
Perhaps it was chief minister H D Kumaraswamy's mode of arrival at his swearing-in that set the trend.He came in a private Scorpio.
"Even now, the CM often uses a Lexus bought by one of the boards he heads. But his official car is a new Ambassador with bucket seats,"department of personnel and administrative reforms sources said.
Other than Kumaraswamy, no minister has the humble, once ubiquitous Ambassador as the official car. All including deputy CM B S Yediyurappa have Mitsubishi Lancers, except a few like Alkod Hanumantappa, who wanted the Contessa.

Still, given that imported Lexus model costs about Rs 40 lakh, 19 ministerial Lancers bought during the S M Krishna regime have become passe. "Our cars are not very comfortable,"agriculture marketing minister Sharanabasappa Darshanapur said.
Health and family welfare minister R Ashok said: "We want cars with space and fuel efficiency." Two years ago, the state bought two Skoda models for ministers and two Chevrolet Forresters for chairpersons of both Houses.

Senior ministers Basavaraj Horatti and Jagadish Shettar have appropriated two Skoda cars used by then deputy CM M P Prakash and then water resources minister Mallikarjun M Kharge.
So far, the 'posh car' requests of new ministers have not been fulfilled. If DPAR does not buy posh cars, a minister does have an option. He can use a private high-end car and bill the government for petrol and maintenance expenses within entitlement limits.
"This was done in the case of former minister M Y Ghorpade, who used a foreign car as his official transport,"sources said.

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