Bengaluru: The Congress on Monday took a dig at the BJP, accusing its leaders of misleading people by claiming that the Centre had purchased and handed over electric buses to state transport corporations under the PM e-Drive and PM e-Seva schemes.
In a sharp post on social media platform X, the party said, “Instead of crying hoarse, at least understand the basic difference between buying and leasing. The Centre has not purchased buses and given them to state transport undertakings (STUs). It has only provided subsidies to private companies such as Olectra, JBM, Tata and Switch Mobility, who in turn lease out buses to STUs for a fixed period.”
Congress further pointed out that the Centre had extended subsidies to private players but not a single rupee to state transport corporations. “Drivers, maintenance and operations of these electric buses are handled by private companies, not by the transport corporations. Even charging stations and related infrastructure are set up without any direct financial support from the Centre,” it said.
The party alleged that the BJP government at the Centre had chosen the path of privatisation instead of strengthening STUs, despite having skilled manpower and resources in states.
Under the PM e-Drive scheme, a total of 10,900 e-buses have been announced for cities across the country, out of which Karnataka has been allotted 4,500. Congress credited this allocation to the “keen interest and persistent efforts” of Karnataka transport minister Ramalinga Reddy, while adding that other states showed little interest in e-bus operations.
Taking a swipe at the BJP, the Congress reminded that during the UPA era (2004-2014), then prime minister Manmohan Singh’s government had provided 80% subsidy for the purchase of 2,685 city buses for KSRTC, BMTC, NWKRTC and KKRTC. “That is why today, in 31 districts including Kalaburagi, Koppal, Hubballi-Dharwad, Hassan, Belagavi, Tumakuru, Davanagere and Shivamogga, hundreds of city buses are running,” the party said.
Congress also recalled that central funding had helped build 10 TTMCs in Bengaluru and seven in Mysuru during the UPA period, which today are valued at over ₹10,000 crore.
