A coalition of political organisations protested in Bengaluru on Saturday against the increase in KSRTC bus fares and the prices of Nandini milk and curd, saying the decisions had added to the financial pressure on households already facing higher living costs.
The protest was held at Freedom Park by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Karnataka Rashtra Samithi and the Republican Party of India. The organisations demanded that the Karnataka government immediately withdraw the increases in bus fares and dairy prices.
The protesters said the higher prices would affect poor households, middle-class families, workers, ordinary consumers and farmers. They linked the demands to wider concerns over inflation, the rising cost of essential goods and the growing expense of maintaining a household in Bengaluru and elsewhere in the state.
The demonstration brought together two areas of everyday urban expenditure: public transport and basic food. Bus fare increases directly affect commuters who depend on state-run services for access to jobs, education, healthcare and markets, while milk and curd prices affect regular household consumption. The report did not specify the revised fares or the extent of the dairy price increase.
Karnataka Rashtra Samithi organisational secretary Arogya Swamy criticised the administration of milk unions, alleging that irregularities, corruption and administrative failures had not been addressed before the higher price was passed on to consumers. He said the government had failed to provide farmers with a fair price linked to the cost of milk production while imposing an additional burden on buyers.
Swamy also alleged that transport corporations, including the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, had not been strengthened by addressing corruption, irregular expenditure and administrative lapses. Instead, he said, fare increases had been used, which he described as a sign of government failure.
Republican Party of India working president M. Venkataswamy called for public resources to be mobilised more effectively to improve the financial position of transport corporations and milk unions. He too demanded the immediate withdrawal of the Nandini milk and bus fare increases.
Following the protest, office-bearers of the Karnataka Rashtra Samithi went to the district commissioner’s office and submitted a representation. The protest was attended by KRS state joint secretary L. Jeevan; state organising secretaries Arogya Swamy, Krishna V.B., Anand and Raghunandan; and CPI(M) Bengaluru North district committee secretary N. Pratap Simha and South district committee secretary B.N. Manjunath.
The representation submitted to the district administration is the next formal step identified in the report. The government’s response to the demand for withdrawal of the fare and dairy price increases was not stated.
