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Bengaluru, May 21: Hours after taking over as Karnataka Chief Minister’s post Siddaramaiah lashed out a rival BJP in the state terming its previous government as “useless”.

"The government which was ruling earlier was useless. They couldn't get us the share of taxes properly. The Centre has to give us Rs 5,495 crores as per the Finance commission recommendation,” Siddaramaiah said, mentioned the report. 

The Karnataka Legislative Assembly session is to be held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, next week.

Reacting on Siddaramiah’s jibe, BJP lambasted Congress alleging a "huge difference" between the ruling party's announcements and poll promises.

"There is a lot of difference in the promises made by the Congress government and the announcements made by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after the first Cabinet. People had expected a lot of announcements and immediate implementation. Some of the women started travelling free in the buses. Today's announcements have disappointed the people," former CM Basavraj Bommai and BJP leader was quoted in the report as having said.

BJP Tamil Nadu unit president, K Annamalai claimed that the Karnataka government will "collapse" within a year, the report said.

"I see Karnataka govt collapsing like a pack of cards a year from now. If DK Shivakumar and Siddharamiah don't fight by 2024, then the Nobel peace prize should be given to both of them, because the structure of the government is itself faulty. Both leaders will be CM for 2.5 years. Siddaramaih, Shivakumar, and AICC have 10 ministers each. What kind of a structure is this?" Annamalai was quoted as having said.

He added, "They talk about Opposition Unity. What kind of unity will be there when there is no unity in Congress itself? Also, opposition leaders like Arvind Kejriwal, KCR, and Mamata Banerjee were not there today in the swearing-in ceremony".

Meanwhile, following the swearing-in ceremony, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday thanked the people of Karnataka for electing the Congress to power in the southern State, and said that the newly-formed government will work for development of the state.

In a personalised video address, the former Congress president said, "From my heart, I wish to thank all of you, the people of Karnataka for giving the Congress party such a historic mandate. This mandate is for the pro-people's government and for the pro-poor government. It is a rejection of politics of divisiveness and a rejection of corruption. I would like to reassure the people of Karnataka that the Congress government which has been sworn in today will stand by its commitment to implement the promises made to them".

"I am proud that the first Cabinet meeting has already approved the immediate implementation of our five guarantees. The Congress party remains committed to the prosperity, peace and progress of Karnataka. Jai Hind," she added.

Congress bagged 135 seats in the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly ousting the ruling BJP, which got 66 seats while the Janata Dal (Secular) secured 19 seats in the results declared on May 13.

Bengaluru, May 24: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar will leave for New Delhi on Wednesday evening, where they are expected to meet the Congress high command and discuss cabinet expansion, and allocation of portfolios to existing Ministers.

As per the Chief Minister's official schedule, Siddaramaiah will be leaving for Delhi by a special flight at 6:30 pm, and will halt in the national capital tonight.

According to Shivakumar's office, the Deputy CM will accompany Siddaramaiah.

Details of the Delhi visit has not been shared with media, but party sources said they are expected to meet Congress leadership to discuss allocation of portfolios to Ministers and cabinet expansion.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were sworn in as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister respectively along with eight legislators as Ministers on May 20. Portfolios have not been allocated to the Ministers since then.

According to Congress sources, the party high command approved the first list of eight ministers, against the earlier plan of inducting a much higher number of legislators into the cabinet, as there were allegedly differences between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar over some names, during the discussions held in New Delhi last week, ahead of swearing-in.

Allocation of portfolios to the new Ministers and expanding the cabinet with the right combinations that will strike a balance in having representatives from all communities, regions, factions, and also from among the old and new generation of legislators, is the daunting task ahead of Siddaramaiah. With the sanctioned strength of the Karnataka Cabinet being 34, there are too many aspirants for ministerial berths. 

Mangaluru: Passengers of Mangaluru-bound Air India Express flight IX 814, which was scheduled to take off from Dubai at 2.25 am on Sunday, May 21, had a harrowing experience as the flight was delayed by around 10 hours. 

The airline officials cited technical reasons for the inordinate delay. However, the passengers complained that they were not informed about the delay in departure by the airline, which caused them much inconvenience.

A tweet posted by @pritham_1974 read: “Flight from mangalore Dxb IX 814 delayed by 9.30 hours, No SMS nor a call from Airlines. Airport staff informed passengers after one hour waiting for check in, Poor coordination from the airline staff at the airport .. not expected from TATA group #AirIndia #ratantata #dgca.”

A tweet from handle @Nenmeli said, “@ DrSJaishankar @PMOIndia Around 185 Airindia express IX814 passengers to IXE are stuck and suffering in DXB terminal 2 since last night due to flight delay. Now at 6.10AM at DXB, we don’t know when the flight will depart. Please do the needful urgently.”

In another tweet, @Nenmeli said that after more than 10 hours of delay, passengers were allowed to check in around 9.30 am on Sunday. “Also, the airlines arranged food for all of us,” the tweet said.

An AIE official at Mangaluru International Airport said that the flight was delayed in Dubai due to technical reasons and landed at MIA around 6.45pm.

Sources said that the major rehabilitation/recarpeting work under way at Mangaluru Airport runway 06/24, is another cause for the delay since flights cannot land here anytime between 9.30am to 6pm, except Sunday and national holidays. The works which started on January 27 will continue till the end of this month.

On Saturday, May 20, Air India Express flight IX 813, from Mangaluru to Dubai, was also delayed by four hours. An AIE official informed that the flight, that was scheduled to depart from Mangaluru at 11.05 pm on Saturday, took off for Dubai around 3.15am on Sunday.