BENGALURU — Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka led the Bharatiya Janata Party’s charge against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s administration on Thursday. He pinpointed failures in funding the state’s transport department and handling Bengaluru’s mounting garbage piles.

Ashoka addressed reporters here amid protests by employees from four state-run transport corporations. The workers rallied at Freedom Park in a ‘Bengaluru Chalo’ demonstration. Their core demand: payment of 38 months of arrears. Ashoka said the Congress government, in power for over two years, has left no department properly funded since taking office.

“The government treasury is empty,” Ashoka declared. He criticized Siddaramaiah and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy for postponing employee demands indefinitely. Transport staff rejected a government offer to release just 26 months of dues, he added. Authorities moved only after strike threats surfaced, Ashoka charged.

He dismissed excuses tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Transport firms worldwide took hits from lockdowns, Ashoka acknowledged. But he called it unjustified for the current government to lean on that now. Under Congress rule, a once-profitable transport system has bled losses, he alleged.

Ashoka challenged Reddy’s claim that the prior BJP government left massive dues in 2018. “Disclose the exact liabilities we inherited,” he demanded. He invited scrutiny of his own stint as Transport Minister from 2009 to 2013. “If dues piled up then, make it public,” Ashoka said.

The criticism extended beyond transport. Ashoka warned of looming strikes by the Contractors’ Association over unpaid bills. Excise contractors, too, plan protests. “The government will pay the price for three years of mistakes,” he predicted. He urged immediate clearance of all RTC employee arrears, in phases or one go, if funds exist.

On the garbage front, Ashoka rebuked Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar. Shivakumar had threatened to dump waste outside BJP leaders’ homes if they blocked trucks. “Let them dump at our residences—no problem,” Ashoka shot back. “If they can’t manage garbage, it’s their failure.”

Local residents, not BJP politicians, drive the protests, Ashoka insisted. The Congress regime promised better civic services after taking charge two-and-a-half years ago. It delivered nothing, he said. During the previous BJP tenure, hundreds of crores went to waste management, according to Ashoka.

The Joint Action Committee of transport employees plans a 4 p.m. press conference Thursday. Organizers will outline next steps in their agitation.