BJP MP Tejasvi Surya detained in Bengaluru while protesting against proposed Metro fare hike

BENGALURU: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Tejasvi Surya was on Monday detained and later released by the police near Jayanagar Metro station in Bengaluru, where he attempted to stage another protest against the ruling Congress government in Karnataka for the proposed hike in metro fares.

The BJP MP was served a notice on Sunday for staging a protest at the Metro station without prior notification to the police. This comes amid the ongoing dispute between the Congress-led Karnataka government and the Centre, with each blaming the other for the proposed metro fare hike.

“ಇದು @INCKarnataka ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಸರ್ವಾಧಿಕಾರಿ ನೀತಿ!!

​ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ದಿವಾಳಿಯಾಗಿದೆ ಎಂದು ಖಾಲಿ ಟ್ರಂಕ್ ತೋರಿಸಿ ಪ್ರತಿಭಟನೆ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಸಂಸದ @Tejasvi_Surya ಅವರನ್ನು ಪೊಲೀಸರು ಬಂಧಿಸಿರುವುದು ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಖಂಡನೀಯ.

​ಸ್ವಯಂಘೋಷಿತ ಸಂವಿಧಾನ ರಕ್ಷಕ ಸಿಎಂ @siddaramaiah ಅವರೇ, ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂಸದರಿಗೆ… pic.twitter.com/p4LTewFALD

— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) February 9, 2026

In an X post, following his release, Tejasvi Surya slammed the Karnataka government, alleging “broken” finances. He asked Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to restore cash support to Bengaluru’s ‘Namma Metro’.

“Arresting me won’t silence me! Shameful that the Congress government arrested me for exposing the truth: That this is a ‘Khali Trunk’ Govt. That Karnataka’s finances are broken, and citizens are paying the price through rising Metro fares and soaring costs. No more excuses. The Chief Minister must present a White Paper in the Budget and answer one question: Why are the State’s finances weak, as you have admitted before FFC? Why is it becoming unaffordable in Karnataka? Why is the State increasing prices every day? Fix the finances, restore shadow cash support to Metro, and Metro fares will fall. Anything else is deception,” the BJP MP wrote.

Arresting me, won’t silence me!

Shameful that the Congress government arrested me for exposing the truth: That this is a ‘Khali Trunk’ Govt. That Karnataka’s finances are broken, and citizens are paying the price through rising Metro fares and soaring costs.

No more excuses.… pic.twitter.com/jDjHhmz0Jf

— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) February 9, 2026

Earlier on Sunday, Tejasvi Surya said the Karnataka government repeatedly asked the Fare Fixation Committee to increase metro fares. He further said that the state government proposed increasing Bengaluru metro fares by 5 per cent, stating that this would burden commuters and urging the state to conduct periodic fare revisions as mandated by law.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao slammed the BJP for politicising the issue, saying that CM Siddaramaiah has already written to the Centre, which has an equal stake in Bengaluru’s ‘Namma Metro’, not to increase the prices.

“Unnecessarily, the BJP people want to make politics out of everything. The metro is run by the State and Central government, and it is a separate corporation. CM has already written to the Government of India not to increase the fare. Now, Tejasvi Surya is saying that they are not going to increase, so let there be an official order, then we will see,” the minister told reporters. (ANI)