BJP plans protests over bus fare and milk price increases in India

BY Vijayendra, the BJP's state president, called the government headed by chief minister DK Shivakumar “inhuman” and criticised its policies as anti-people. He said commuters faced increased transport charges after the administration had already raised milk prices.

R Ashoka, opposition leader in the Legislative Assembly, put the government's outstanding payments to Karnataka's four transport corporations at 56.509 billion rupees. He argued that settling those obligations could have prevented the fare increase. His corporation-by-corporation figures were 29.43 billion rupees for KSRTC, 13.06 billion rupees for NWKRTC, 10.19 billion rupees for BMTC and 9.99 billion rupees for KKRTC.

Citing ticket prices on BMTC services and routes between cities, Ashoka alleged that fare increases reached 40%. He attributed the operators' financial difficulties to the government's failure to reimburse money under its guarantee schemes. According to Ashoka, the corporations had combined liabilities of 71.308 billion rupees in May 2026 and were having difficulty buying even spare parts.

Ashoka also criticised the recent price increases for Nandini milk and curd. He estimated that they would add about 390 rupees to a family's monthly spending. He called for a government white paper setting out Karnataka's financial position and questioned expenditure on the guarantee schemes.

Pralhad Joshi, a Union minister, similarly blamed the guarantee schemes for bringing the transport corporations towards bankruptcy. He accused the administration of adding to ordinary passengers' financial burden, saying it had initially promised free travel but was now increasing fares. Workers and economically weaker groups were being adversely affected, he said.

Shivakumar said the state administration was willing to lower bus fares if India's central government cut petrol and diesel prices.