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As major parties in Karnataka have embarked on yatras in the run-up to the 2023 Assembly elections, Opposition leader Siddaramaiah has unveiled an ultra-luxury bus to be used for his yatra, one of the two announced by the Congress.
While the Congress yatras are scheduled for January, Siddaramaiah took a trial run of the bus on Sunday by travelling to Kolar along with a few other leaders. Videos showing features of the bus were shared on social media.
While BJP has planned two Rath Yatras to cover all the 224 constituencies, the Opposition JD(S) has launched a Panchajanya Yatra led by former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy.
After Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra passed through Karnataka, the Congress state unit announced two yatras—one under state president D K Shivakumar and the other led by Siddaramaiah.
The air-conditioned bus is from the Japanese company Isuzu and is altered to seat six people, with comfortable pushback seats and a table in the middle. Four seats are placed on one side of the bus, with two seats on the other side separated by a small walkway.
It also consists of a sleeping area with a double bed and an attached toilet. Near the driver’s seat is a platform on which four-five people can stand. It can be lifted through the sunroof of the bus to allow Siddaramaiah to campaign from the bus itself.
According to sources in Siddaramaiah’s office, the bus was rented out for the former chief minister by the Congress’s Hebbal MLA, Byrati Suresh.
Such campaigns were taken out ahead of past elections as well. In 1999 S M Krishna, who was then state Congress president, embarked on a state tour on a bus.
More recently, in 2017, Kumaraswamy campaigned on a bus that was estimated to have cost around Rs 1 crore.
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