BENGALURU: The youth wing of Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party, BNP Nava Yuva, on Friday staged a symbolic protest at Freedom Park against what it termed Bengaluru’s “toxic VIP culture”, unveiling a mock “VIP IPL Ticket” and urging DK Shivakumar, whose name is doing the rounds for chief minister’s post, to curb political entitlement in the city.
BNP Nava Yuva said that it decided to stage the symbolic protest after a recent controversy over the demand by legislators that they be given tickets to watch Indian Premier League matches. VIP culture is causing inconvenience to the people. It has tarnished Bengaluru’s image, even contributing to the city losing an opportunity to host a home IPL final.
Rishvanjas Raghavan, president of BNP Nava Yuva, said the elected representatives prioritised privileges over civic governance while ignoring issues such as bad roads, flooding, garbage and delayed elections to civic bodies. He urged the government to ensure that public resources and civic infrastructure serve citizens first instead of politicians and their families.
Srikanth Narasimhan, founder of BNP, stressed the need for putting an end to VIP culture and called for a system that promotes equality.
The party said that its mock ticket protest marked the beginning of a wider campaign against discriminatory VIP privileges in Bengaluru and reiterated its commitment to ensuring public spaces and events remain accessible to all.