Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav has said that the government has completely disrupted the household budget of the middle class and the poor, leaving the common man in despair.
"The government has increased the prices of milk and a hike in bus fares has led to a rise in fares of auto-rickshaws and other smaller means of public transport.
As a result, the common man is finding itself at the receiving end," said Akhilesh. The former Uttar Pradesh CM said the first increase in prices of milk will eventually end up in poor people reducing the quantity of milk that they give to their children.
"An increase of 25 paise per kilometre per passenger in fares of ordinary bus has led to a cumulative rise of Rs 1.30 per passenger per kilometre in roadways fares," he said, adding that this was a step taken by the ruling BJP which was "anti-poor and will hit the poor and the lower middle class the most".
He said the bus fares were increased annually from 2012 to 2014 and revised again in 2016-17 and now in 2023. "With the increase in bus fares, the auto-rickshaws have also increased their fares and are now charging around Rs 10.50 per kilometre.
This will hit the middle and upper middle class population severely," the SP chief said. With no relief in petrol and LPG prices, the impact of price rise on all commodities and this is taking its toll on household budgets of the common man, he said.