The Karnataka bus fare hike has triggered a political protest in Bengaluru, with the state BJP accusing the Congress government of placing an additional burden on ordinary residents through higher public transport and milk prices.
The protest was held at Freedom Park on Wednesday under the leadership of Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy. BJP workers raised slogans against the state government and condemned the recent increases.
The protest followed the announcement of higher fares across Karnataka’s four state-run transport corporations. State Transport Minister Byrathi Suresh announced the fare revision on November 4. According to the report, the maximum increase was Rs 9 in the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, or KSRTC. Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation, which operates city bus services in the capital, recorded a maximum increase of Rs 10.
The fare changes affect the cost of using publicly operated bus services across the state. The supplied report does not specify the revised fares for individual routes or ticket categories, but identifies BMTC as one of the four state-run corporations covered by the increase.
The BJP also protested against a separate increase announced by the Karnataka Milk Federation. The federation recently raised the price of Nandini milk by Rs 8 per litre and curd by Rs 14 per litre. The revised prices add to the cost of two widely purchased dairy products, although the report does not provide details of the earlier prices or the reasons cited by the federation for the increase.
The Bengaluru Milk Union subsequently revised the retail prices of Nandini ghee, butter, paneer and Trupti milk. These new rates also came into effect on November 4. The report does not specify the revised prices of those products.
Several BJP leaders participated in the Freedom Park protest, including core committee members, Members of Parliament, legislators, Members of the Legislative Council, state office-bearers and district presidents. The protesters accused the government led by Chief Minister D K Shivakumar of being an “anti-people government” and alleged that successive price increases were harassing ordinary people.
The protest places two separate price revisions—public transport fares and dairy products—within the same political campaign against the state government. For Bengaluru, the BMTC fare increase directly concerns the city’s publicly operated bus network, while the Nandini price revisions affect household purchases. The report does not record a response from the Congress government to the BJP’s allegations or provide details of any planned review of the revised prices.
The immediate developments to monitor are the state government’s response to the protest and the continued implementation of the fare and dairy price revisions announced from November 4.
