Tejasvi Surya: Karnataka Govt Blocking Cabinet Approval for 4,500 Centre-Sanctioned Electric Buses for Bengaluru's BMTC

Bengaluru, June 29: The Central Government has sanctioned 4,500 electric buses for Bengaluru's BMTC (Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation) to strengthen the city's public transport system. However, the state Congress government is showing indifference by refusing to grant the cabinet approval required for the deployment of these buses, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya said, expressing strong anger.

To receive these buses, the state government needs to contribute a minimal matching amount from its own funds. Yet the government is hesitating to approve this public interest scheme, Surya fumed.

Money for luxury tunnel projects, but not for public transport?

Speaking to reporters, Tejasvi Surya said: "I have already raised the delay on these buses in Parliament, and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy also responded positively. This government has thousands of crores to spend on VIP projects — 1,300-kilometre tunnel roads and a 2-kilometre tunnel road meant solely for luxury cars. But do they not have money to spend for the common people who travel every day by BMTC buses and Namma Metro?"

Common citizens are second-class in the Congress government's eyes: Surya

In this government's view, ordinary citizens are second-class people, he said. Women who commute by bus daily and pedestrians are no longer a priority. This is a VIP government chasing large "white elephant" projects from which commissions can be extracted, Tejasvi Surya sharply criticized.

Strong opposition to the halt in Banashankari skywalk work

Speaking about local infrastructure in Bengaluru, Tejasvi Surya pointed out that then-Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar himself had performed the groundbreaking ceremony for a skywalk (pedestrian overbridge) near Banashankari BMTC bus stand, intended for the convenience of commuters and pedestrians. However, that work has now been stopped midway. He alleged that on the advice of some contractor, the government is now planning to build a flyover at the same location for profit.