5 days ago
Tejasvi Surya accuses govt of ‘economic untouchability'
Bengaluru: BJPMP Tejasvi Surya launched a scathing attack on the Congress government on Sunday, accusing it of turning Bengaluru — the state's biggest revenue contributor — into a money-making machine for the party instead of providing the city with world-class infrastructure. Addressing a press conference in the city, Surya alleged massive irregularities in Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar's flagship Bengaluru Tunnel Road Project, describing it as a 'classic example of Congress corruption'.
Calling the project 'unscientific and elitist', Surya questioned its relevance to Bengaluru's crippling traffic woes. 'This tunnel road is designed only for cars — for the rich. If the same stretch was used for a metro line, it could carry 25,000 people per hour. But the tunnel road can carry barely 600 to 1,600 people by car. Allow bikes, it can go up to 7,500. So why do we need a luxury tunnel for a few car owners when the city needs mass transit?' he asked.
Surya described the tunnel plan as an 'economic apartheid', claiming it blatantly ignores Bengaluru's poor and middle class. 'This is economic untouchability — a fancy road for the rich while the common man struggles with potholes and choked roads,' he charged.
The MP also alleged irregularities in the preparation of the project's Detailed Project Report (DPR) and feasibility study. 'The company Synergy Engineering, which prepared the feasibility report, is part of the Lion Group. The DPR was done by Altinok through Radik Consultant — a firm blacklisted in Jammu & Kashmir for corruption. They just copied and pasted content from other projects and charged ₹9.5 crore of taxpayer money for this,' he said.
Surya said the BJP would launch a statewide agitation against the project to safeguard public money. 'We will not allow this tunnel scam to loot people's money. The BJP will fight till this is scrapped,' he said. Questioning the Congress government's priorities, Surya pointed to the unfinished Ejipura flyover in his constituency. 'They talk about 100 km of new flyovers — first complete the ones that are stuck for years. If you go at this pace, it will take 800 years to finish 100 km of flyovers,' he mocked.
He also slammed the government for delaying expansion of the Bengaluru Metro. 'Today, we have only 78 km of Metro. We need 317 km in the next five years. Even the Yellow Line is ready but not opened to the public. Instead of expanding Metro, they are pushing tunnels for cars. This is absurd,' he said.
Surya reiterated his commitment to fight for a Metro fare cut as well. 'They went abroad on study tours promising reports to cut fares but nothing has come. I have filed a case — and we will fight till Metro travel is affordable for all,' he said. Calling the tunnel road a '400% scam', Surya vowed: 'This is not 40% commission — this is 400%, 4,000%. The numbers don't add up. We will not stop till every rupee is accounted for.'
The MP's fiery press conference comes as the Congress faces mounting questions over the project's feasibility, cost, and impact on Bengaluru's already strained urban ecosystem — setting the stage for yet another political showdown over the city's infrastructure dreams.
