Akhilesh hits out at UP govt over bus fare hikeAsks if it wants to fund investors summit from public pocket

Abhishek Awasthi.

Lucknow: Attacking the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh for hiking fare of roadways buses by about 24 per cent, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said it seems that the state government wanted to meet the expense of hosting investors summit from the public’s pocket. The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) hiked fares for general buses by 25 paise per kilometre.“By increasing the bus fare by 24 per cent, does the BJP government in UP want to extract the expenses of the investor’s summit from the public’s pocket because they know that neither the previous investment has come till now nor the next one will come.”The BJP, which supports the affluent, has made inflation the fate of the poor and common people. Inflation will disappear only when the BJP is removed,” Yadav declared in a Hindi tweet. The investor’s event is set to take place in the state capital from February 10 to 12. The maximum cost for UPSRTC regular buses has been set at Rs 1.30 per passenger per kilometre, according to a notification issued on Monday by State Transport Authority Chairman L Venkateswara Lu. Prior to the increase, the fare was Rs 1.05 per person per kilometre.