Bengaluru: Metro fare hike likely next month, BJP attacks Siddaramaiah government
The Bengaluru Metro will once again see a fare hike from next month, The BMRCL is planning to increase fares by 5% from February and this has led to considerable unrest among the people of the city. The BJP, meanwhile has attacked the state government, led by Congress leader Siddaramaiah over the fare hike. BJP MP Tejashvi Surya claimed the Bengaluru Metro was one of the costliest in the country.
New Delhi: The Namma Metro in Bengaluru is likely to see another fare hike from next month. Passengers will now have to shell out more money to use the public transport system. Soon after the proposed fare hike was made public, a blame game started between the ruling Congress government in the state and the Opposition BJP. The BJP went full throttle in attacking the Siddaramaiah government.
The BMRCL is planning to implement an yearly hike in fares, which will be enforced for the first time this year in February. Earlier the fares were hiked by the corporation by more than 100%, but following people's protest, they again reduced the fares by 71.5%. Now however, the Corporation wants to once again increase metro fares by 5%.
BJP blames Congress government for Bengaluru Metro fare hike
Bengaluru South MP and BJP leader Tejasvi Surya attacked the Congress government in Karnataka, over the metro fare hike. He also criticised the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) for the possible fare hike and reminded them about Fare Fixation Committee recommendations. These recommendations reportedly allow only 5% increase in fares at a time.
In a post on social media platform, 'X', Surya termed the Bengaluru Metro as the costliest in the country. He blamed the state government’s negligence in correcting mistakes caused by anomalies in fare fixation, for this situation. He claimed that the Bengaluru metro travel now costs nearly twice as much as in Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai. This, he said, leads to less people using the public transport system in the city.
He claimed that the planned 5% hike in fares would be effective from February and this he said was being done to cover losses in operations and maintenance of the metro. However, the real reason that the Bengaluru Metro was facing losses, according to Surya, was the frequent delays in metro construction. He said that these delays result in considerable increase in the project cost.
He urged the Karnataka CM, Siddaramaiah and the Deputy CM, DK Shivakumar, to form a new Fare Fixation Committee and determine a revised fare structure. He said that the government must follow a transparent process in fixing fares and help reduce the burden on metro commuters.
Congress reacts to Surya's charges
The Congress meanwhile has reacted to Surya's charges, calling them "BJP's lies and propaganda". Defending the state government, the party said that the metro fares are not decided by them, but by a Central committee, the Fare Fixation Committee. They said that the fares decided by the Committee are later approved by a board, chaired by the Union government.
The Congress said that the state government had no legal power to stop the fare hikes, under the present arrangement. They further said that the BMRCL was a joint venture and not run alone by the Karnataka government.
This blame-game between the BJP and the Congress however is likely to continue for some time and might even intensify, once the hike is enforced, from February.