'Criminal neglect': LoP R Ashoka targets DK Shivakumar over 'Brand Bengaluru' vision, mocks GBA's walk challenge

Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka questioned DK Shivakumar over Bengaluru's broken infrastructure and lashed out at the GBA’s '1KmChallenge'.

Terming it “criminal neglect” towards the city, the BJP leader raised eyes on CM-designate's grand vision of 'Brand Bengaluru' and asked him to fix the city's crumbling infrastructure.

Shivakumar was Minister in-charge of Bengaluru Development in the Siddaramaiah-led cabinet.

In his X post, Ashoka wrote, "While the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) conducts mock 'parades' and seasonal drama, the public is risking their lives navigating flooded, crater-ridden stretches full of filthy drain water."

R Ashoka's X post. 

"This criminal neglect lies squarely at the feet of the Chief Minister-designate @DKShivakumar! While he was busy plotting and maneuvering to grab the high chair, the city he was supposed to protect has been completely abandoned. Under his watch, civic coordination has completely collapsed. The BWSSB digs up the roads, the GBA fails to fix them, and the ordinary citizen pays the price with broken bones and damaged vehicles. Is this your grand vision of "Brand Bengaluru," Mr. Shivakumar avare? A city where business is paralyzed, transporters refuse to enter commercial zones, and two-wheelers daily gamble with their lives? To make matters worse, instead of fixing the shattered roads, D.K. Shivakumar’s hopeless administration is openly mocking citizens with a ridiculous social media campaign called the #1KmChallenge," the post read further.

The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has deleted its social media post asking citizens to walk for a kilometre, as netizens demanded walkable footpaths while accepting the challenge.

The BJP leader demanded that Shivakumar immediately stop the political posturing, halt these insulting internet challenges, and fix the broken infrastructure before more innocent lives are lost.

"It's now time to stop hiding behind empty PR campaigns and start doing the job you fought so hard to get, Mr. Shivakumar avare! Pothole filling cannot be a seasonal scam where temporary patches wash away with the very first drop of rain. The BJP demands that you immediately stop the political posturing, halt these insulting internet challenges, and fix the broken infrastructure before more innocent lives are lost," he said, accusing the Congress of "failing" Bengaluru.