‘Will show him Delhi traffic’: DK Shivakumar hits back after SP MP slams Bengaluru

Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar responded to Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Rai's criticism of Bengaluru's traffic, saying he will “show him” Delhi's traffic.

Published on: Dec 2, 2025, 09:47:45 IST

By HT News Desk

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Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar on Monday fired back at Samajwadi Party's MP Rajeev Rai’s criticism of Bengaluru’s traffic, saying he would meet the parliamentarian in New Delhi and “show him” what congestion really looks like in the capital.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar had earlier stirred controversy after his past remark that “even god cannot fix Bengaluru’s traffic”. (@DKShivakumar)

His sharp retort came after Rai blasted the city’s traffic management on X, calling it the “most notorious” following a long jam that nearly cost him his flight.

ALSO READ | ‘Most useless police’: SP MP gets furious as Bengaluru traffic makes him late for flight, slams CM

Rai, an MP from Ghosi and a member of the INDIA bloc, said he was stranded for close to an hour on Rajkumar Samadhi Road on Sunday. In his post, he tagged CM Siddaramaiah and accused the city’s traffic police of being “irresponsible” and “useless”, sharing a screenshot of his unanswered calls and tagging Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the police commissioner.

The MP from Ghosi said he saw no officers on the ground to manage the situation. He claimed the system had become so dysfunctional that it risked tarnishing the reputation of an otherwise beautiful city.

ALSO READ | 'Bengaluru traffic shows no mercy': Viral video captures cows stuck in middle of jam-packed street

Shivakumar, responsible for Bengaluru’s development portfolio, brushed off the complaint with political cheek. “Let me meet him in Delhi...I will meet him in Delhi and I will show him the traffic in Delhi...” he told reporters, as quoted by news agency ANI, suggesting that the capital’s congestion would offer Rai some perspective.

ALSO READ | Bengaluru sees daily addition of 2,774 vehicles, 86,014 vehicles registered in October: Report

The deputy CM’s response comes against the backdrop of earlier controversies stirred by him. His past remark that “even god cannot fix Bengaluru’s traffic” and “people even hesitate to marry a boy who doesn't own a car,” to support the city's controversial and expensive car-only tunnel project, had sparked criticism, even as Bengaluru stood out in the 2024 TomTom Traffic Index, being placed among the top five slowest cities worldwide for travel speed, based on analysis of over 737 billion kilometres of vehicle data.

(With ANI inputs)

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