WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?

In the end, it took a phone call from the prime minister’s office for Union minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda to self-quarantine for the mandated seven days for passengers flying into Karnataka from Delhi. Until then, Gowda had insisted he was exempt from rules that applied to ordinary citizens. Karnataka’s BJP government lent a helping hand, making an exception to quarantine requirements for Union ministers and even backdating the addendum to May 23, though it was circulated on the evening of May 25 (Gowda had arrived in Bengaluru earlier the same day). While telling social media that he would now self-quarantine, Gowda clarified that he was still “pained”