Farmers block road in Mysuru against hike in bus fares

A road blockade was staged by farmers in front of the suburban bus stand in Mysuru on Thursday. This agitation was carried out under the banner of the State Sugarcane Growers Association in protest against the hike in bus fares implemented by the KSRTC.

According to a report by The Hindu, the protest was led by Hallikerehundi Bhagyaraj, the president of the association. The protesters raised slogans against the state government and the Transport Minister, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the fare hike. The road blockade continued for over an hour.

While addressing the protesters, Shri Bhagyaraj made serious allegations against the Congress government. He stated that the government came to power by promising five guarantees, but is now imposing an additional economic burden on the public. He alleged that the transport corporation has suffered a loss of approximately ₹24,000 crore and the government is attempting to burden passengers by increasing bus fares to compensate for this loss.

Bhagyaraj urged farmers and ordinary citizens to oppose this fare hike. He called upon the people not to pay the increased fares in reaction.

Furthermore, he also criticised the elected representatives. He stated that while the government is imposing the burden of expenditure on the public, on the other hand, representatives are increasing their own salaries. He demanded that ministers, MLAs, and MPs should contribute from their own salaries to sustain the guarantee schemes instead of increasing prices.