Karnataka government suspends Bipasha Basu’s payment for yoga day event

On June 21, Bipasha Basu visited Bengaluru to attend an event organised in the celebration of International Yoga Day. The yoga event named Bend it like Bipasha saw Bipasha Basu perform some of the toughest yoga asanas. But, it turns out that the event has left Karnataka government in a contorted position.

The yoga event, that lasted for an hour, has left the Karnataka government in a tough spot with the organisers raising a bill of Rs 45 lakh for the programme. Baffled by the numbers, the government has suspended the payment to Bipasha Basu and the concerned event organisers. Bipasha Basu was the star attraction at the second edition of the International Yoga Day celebrations held at Kanteerava Stadium. CM Siddaramaiah, some cabinet ministers and two Union ministers had joined Bipasha Basu and Swami Vachananand Swamiji on the day to perform yoga. According to the government, Bipasha Basu was not officially invited by them and had no idea about the remuneration payable to her.

The programme was organised by the state government's Ayush (Directorate of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unnani, Siddha and Homeopathy) in collaboration with Shwaasa, a Yoga teaching institute run by yoga expert Vachananand Swamiji. The private partner in organising Yoga Day function, Shwaasa, has submitted the bills for various expenses which were not accepted by Ayush. The government has told the organiser to authenticate the expenditure.