Bengaluru, 1 Dec

City’s traffic woes have come under fresh scrutiny as Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Rai criticised the authorities, calling the city’s roads “the most notorious” and citing “worst traffic management.” Rai, visiting the city on Sunday, tagged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on X, saying he was stuck for an hour on Rajkumar Samadhi Road and feared missing his flight.

In his post on 30 November, Rai wrote: “I’m sorry, but you have the worst traffic management, and the most irresponsible, useless traffic police. They don’t even pick up phone calls, here is the screenshot of my attempt to speak to them; none of them picked up my call.” He added: “For the last one hour, we were stuck at the same place… Not a single policeman was seen around. These inefficient officers are enough to spoil the name and charm of this beautiful city.”

Responding to the criticism, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, who oversees Bengaluru development, said he would meet Rai in Delhi to show him the city’s traffic situation in the national capital. “Okay. Let me meet him in Delhi and show him what traffic is like in Delhi. I will also tag him,” Shivakumar told reporters.

In recent months, industry bodies and citizens have increasingly pressured the state government over City’s traffic and infrastructure challenges.