Bengaluru: The Karnataka Congress has strongly criticised the BJP for what it described as deliberate misinformation regarding the Centre’s electric bus programme. The party said the BJP has been celebrating the claim that the Central Government purchased and handed over 5,250 electric buses to state transport corporations under the PM e-Drive and PM e-Seva schemes, while the truth is entirely different.

According to the Congress, the Centre has not purchased any buses for state transport undertakings. Instead, subsidies were extended to private companies such as Olectra, JBM, Tata and Switch Mobility, who have leased the buses to transport corporations for fixed periods. Transport corporations have received no direct subsidy. The drivers are employed by private firms, and maintenance also rests with private operators rather than the transport corporations.

The Congress argued that this approach deprives state undertakings of opportunities to use their own skilled manpower and resources, weakening them while nudging public transport further towards privatisation. It also highlighted that no financial support has been provided for setting up depots or charging stations for the buses.

The party credited Karnataka’s Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy for the Centre’s allotment of 4,500 electric buses to the state under the PM e-Drive scheme. It noted that many other states did not show interest in operating electric buses, which helped Karnataka secure a larger allocation.

In contrasting the Centre’s approach with that of the earlier UPA government, the Congress reminded that between 2004 and 2014, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s administration took significant steps to strengthen public transport. It cited the grants that enabled the construction of 10 TTMCs in Bengaluru and seven in Mysuru, investments that are now valued at more than ₹10,000 crore. The Congress also recalled that during the UPA’s tenure, city bus services were launched in smaller and medium towns across India and that Karnataka’s four transport corporations were able to purchase 2,685 city buses with up to 80 percent of the cost covered by central subsidies.

These measures, the Congress said, are the reason today’s urban transport networks exist in districts including Kalaburagi, Koppal, Hubballi, Dharwad, Belagavi, Tumakuru, Davanagere, and Shivamogga. It accused the BJP of failing to understand even the basic difference between purchase and lease, and of engaging in cheap publicity through false claims rather than strengthening public transport infrastructure.