Bengaluru, Nov 5 (IANS) Karnataka BJP leaders staged a protest at the Majestic bus stand in Bengaluru on Thursday, condemning the Congress government’s decision to hike bus fares and accusing it of burdening ordinary commuters to fund its guarantee schemes.
During the protest, BJP leaders wore masks depicting Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Transport Minister Bhyrathi Suresh, and held vessels into which they dropped coins, symbolically portraying the government as bankrupt and begging for money.
Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka alleged that the Congress government had increased fares out of cowardice and that the decision would adversely affect poor people who depend on public transport.
“People who travel by buses are poor, not rich. Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar claim that they stand with the poor. Is this what standing with them means?” he questioned.
Ashoka claimed that the state government owed transport corporations between Rs 5,000 crore and Rs 6,000 crore and alleged that the financial burden arising from the implementation of the guarantee schemes had affected the government’s ability to clear its dues.
He accused the government of failing to mobilise resources for its guarantee programmes and instead passing the burden on to the public through increased fares.
“This is a wicked government that only does harm to the people. They are looting the public,” he alleged.
Rejecting the government’s argument that rising diesel prices had contributed to the fare revision, Ashoka claimed that Karnataka collected substantial cess on diesel and petrol and questioned the government’s justification for increasing fares.
Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy also criticised the state government, alleging that it had failed to clear around Rs 9,000 crore in pending dues to transport corporations.
Questioning the financial management of the Shakti scheme, which provides free bus travel to women, Kumaraswamy asked how the government could claim credit for offering free travel while leaving substantial dues unpaid.
“You burden the people, take money from them and then beat your drum about providing free travel. Is this something only you can do? Can anyone not do it?” he questioned.
Kumaraswamy also criticised the Congress government for blaming the Centre over diesel prices while increasing the financial burden on commuters through its own policies.
He questioned whether it was fair for the state government to hold the Centre responsible for rising fuel costs while overlooking the financial burden created by its own programmes.
The BJP leaders demanded that the government reconsider the fare hike, alleging that ordinary commuters were being made to pay for the administration’s financial mismanagement.
Karnataka Transport Minister Byrathi Suresh on Wednesday announced an increase in ticket fares for all four state-run road transport corporations — the BMTC, the KSRTC, the NWKRTC, and the KKRTC — with the revised rates coming into effect from midnight.
For general transport services, which account for the maximum number of passengers, the increase has been limited to Rs 9 to Rs 68 for longer journeys. In Vega Doota services, the maximum increase will be Rs 18 for 10 stages. The KSRTC network has around 150 fare stages.
–IANS
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