November 1, 2025

BENGALURU: The political arena in Bengaluru turned fiery and fulsome on Thursday, with Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar launching a verbal storm against Bengaluru South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya. The sharp comments came after the two leaders had met to discuss ways to ease Bengaluru’s dreadful traffic jams. Shivakumar did not hold back when he called Surya "childish" and a "waste material." "He is childish and has no experience. He is a waste material. Out of respect for his position, I called him for a meeting, but now he is talking nonsense in public," said Shivakumar, turning up the heat. The sparks flew after Surya criticized Shivakumar’s blunt statement that "people can't be stopped from using their cars," and his casual remark that "parents do not give away girls to boys who do not own a car." Taking a cheeky dig, Surya joked the state government seemed to be building the tunnel road "to solve a social problem." Not to be outdone, Shivakumar fired back with full force: "He is immature. He hasn't brought even ₹10 from the central govt. When BJP was in power, what did they do for Bengaluru's public transport? Centre funds only 10-12% of the Namma Metro cost. The rest is borne by the state." Shivakumar didn’t stop there. He openly dissed Surya by saying, "Please don't ask me about him — he is a waste material. His party leaders like R Ashoka, Ashwath Narayan, [Basavaraj] Bommai, and [Jagadish] Shettar understand things better." Adding fuel to the fire, the Karnataka DCM shared that Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar actually praised the state’s tunnel road proposal and the move to regularize B-Khata properties, taking a swipe at Surya’s claims. On Surya’s idea of a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), Shivakumar was blunt: "Do we have that much space for BRTS? Does he even know the cost of land acquisition? He doesn't have a brain." To add a pinch of sarcasm, the deputy CM asked why Surya travels by car if he truly cares for public transport solutions. "Let him and his family use the Metro and govt buses. Let BJP MLAs travel by the Metro and autorickshaws. We can't tell everyone to stop using cars," he said. This verbal war broke out on the sidelines of a meeting of urban development ministers from the southern states, including Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Lakshadweep, held in Bengaluru. As these heavyweights clashed, Bengaluru’s traffic woes remained a burning issue, stirring both politics and passions.

Read More at Timesofindia →

Tags: D k shivakumar, Tejasvi surya, Bengaluru traffic, Brts, Political Feud, Public transport,