Bengaluru: Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, a former Gujarat Finance Minister, was embroiled in a controversy over expenditure of Rs four crore on renovation of Raj Bhavan and another Rs 1.30 crore on air travel including by special flights during nine months.

The Congress government in Karnataka gave an approval on January 5 this year for taking up seven civil works at a cost of Rs three crore, besides electrical works worth Rs one crore, according to information furnished by the State Public Works Department in reply to an RTI query.