Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya on Tuesday took a swipe at Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar for his recent comment linking car ownership to marriage prospects, made while defending the controversial tunnel road project in Bengaluru.
Shivakumar had argued that owning a car had become a social necessity, saying, “Today, people even hesitate to marry their daughter to a boy who doesn’t own a car.” He had made the remark while responding to criticism of the proposed tunnel road, which the government says will help ease traffic congestion in the city.
Sharing a newspaper report on the statement, Surya posted on X, “For all these days, I was under the wrong impression that the tunnel project was aimed at solving Bengaluru traffic problem.
Now, DCM has clarified that it is intended to solve a social problem – of people not wanting to marry a man without car. How stupid I was!”
For all these days, I was under the wrong impression that the tunnel project was aimed at solving Bengaluru traffic problem.
Now, DCM has clarified that it is intended to solve a social problem – of people not wanting to marry a man without car.
How stupid I was! pic.twitter.com/zvUu4S9yxj
— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) October 29, 2025
The young BJP MP had met Shivakumar on Tuesday to urge the state government to drop the tunnel road plan and instead focus on expanding mass public transport systems such as the metro and suburban rail. The meeting came amid growing debate over the project’s viability and environmental impact.
Speaking after the meeting with DKS, Surya had said, “We discussed in detail how expanding public transport is the only sustainable way to ensure effective mobility in the city. I have requested that the amount proposed to be spent on the car-only tunnel project be diverted towards mass rapid transport systems like the metro. The goal of our policy should be to move more people, not more cars.”
However, Shivakumar, who also holds the Bengaluru Development portfolio, maintained that the 16.75-km tunnel from Silk Board to Hebbal would “transform mobility” in the city by cutting travel time by up to 45 minutes and easing traffic at more than 25 major junctions.
(With inputs from agencies)
