To mark DDU birthday, UP buses go saffron

Whoever thought power does not have a colour of its own, should cast a glance at the roadways buses in Uttar Pradesh. These officials buses will have a change in colour with the advent of the Yogi Adityanath government. The buses will be getting a saffron coat of paint.

The new range of saffron buses will roll out on September 25 to mark the birth centenary celebrations of the BJP ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. Transport minister Swatantra Dev Singh has already approved the saffron bus model.

The new buses are being readied at the central workshop of UPSRTC in Kanpur. The cost of each bus is approximately `24 lakh. The new fleet will comply with the Euro 4 emission norms and initially have a fleet of 50 buses for the Antyodaya service. Chief general manager H.S. Gabba said that a final decision about the fare structure of these buses for Antyodaya service is yet to be finalised as they are aimed at providing better transport services at less cost.

During the Mayawati regime between 2007 and 2012 , the BSP government had got the roadways buses painted in dark blue and white with the slogan ‘Sarvjan Hitaye, Sarvjan Sukhaye’ written prominently on them. When the Samajwadi Party came to power in 2012, it was time for these buses to get a fresh coat of paint – this time in red and green.

Buses in rural areas were given the name of Lohia Gramin Bus Sewa with a 20 per cent reduction in fare. The SP has accused the state government of implementing its Hindutva agenda.

When asked about the green and red colour scheme of Lohia Gramin Bus during the SP regime, the SP MLC Sunil Singh Yadav said, “The colour scheme we adopted represented Samajwadi colors, but the BJP is trying to do something entirely different. If they really wanted to copy us they should have adopted orange and green which is their election symbol colour.”