A query filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act revealed that Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat spent over Rs 68.5 lakh on refreshments and snacks for guests since taking charge.
The amount spent came from the funds of the BJP government in the state.
Rawat assumed office on 18 March 2017 after the BJP swept the Assembly Elections in the state winning 57 of the 70 seats.
According to the RTI revelation, an amount of Rs 68,59,865 was spent in the nine months.
The query was made by Hemant Singh, an RTI activist from Haldwani, who had sent his letter on 19 December.
Responding to his query, the government informed him about the expenditure on “chai tatha paani (refreshments)” on 22 January.
According to the government, the money has been spent by the Ministers and other officials in entertaining guests.
BJP leaders in the state reportedly said that the expenditure is “natural” and suggested that the figures might have been exaggerated.
When the Congress government was in power, an RTI query had revealed that approximately Rs 1.5 crore was spent on tea and snacks between February 2014 and July 2016.
In September 2016, an RTI query had revealed that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi had spent approximately Rs 1 crore in just 18 months.
Similarly, the Samajwadi Party spent around Rs 9 crore on tea and snacks for its ministers from 2012 to 2015. Then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had himself announced the expenditure in August 2016.