The Opposition Congress alleged that civic apathy and crumbling infrastructure in the city had hit Brand Bengaluru and blamed the “40% commission” corruption for it, while holding simultaneous protests at 357 locations across the city on Monday, with a slogan “Bhrashtachara Tolagisi, Bengaluru Ulisi” (Root-out Corruption, Save Bengaluru).
The protests were held simultaneously at 280 road kerbs, 26 flyovers, and 51 metro stations in Bengaluru with former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Congress president D.K. Shivakumar, Karnataka in-charge Randeep Surjewala, and other Congress leaders staging a protest at Trinity Circle in the Central Business District (CBD).
“Pothole-ridden roads, sinkholes, poor quality of metro work leading to accidents, faulty construction of steel bridge, roads that were laid for Prime Minister’s visit being damaged within 48 hours are all evidence of the corruption of BJP. Even a small rain in the city exposes the corruption of the State government. The BJP has also made garden city into ganja city,” alleged Karnataka Congress in a series of tweets.
“Corruption has increased under the BJP regime, resulting in the pathetic condition of the city’s infrastructure. Now, the commission to the BJP politicians by contractors has increased from 40% to 50%. Recently, I met street vendors who claimed that they are being harassed by police and city municipal officials. Street vendors said that money collected from them by police is ₹1 crore per police station every month. Every day, the police collect ₹500 from street vendors in Bengaluru,” alleged Mr. Shivakumar.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the BJP government, fearing defeat, was not conducting Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections. “If the BBMP elections are conducted now, our party will win majority of the seats,” he added.
Traffc snarls in CBD
Though the Congress protest was organised on the kerbside, CBD areas, including M.G. Road, Trinity Circle, Raj Bhavan Road, Queens road, Infantry Road, Halasuru Road, and surrounding areas in Shivaji Nagar reported traffic snarls on January 23 till afternoon, according to the traffic police.
