Schoolboy DK Shivakumar In BJP's AI Video Over Karnataka Milk, Bus Fare Hikes

The Karnataka BJP has intensified its attack against the ruling Congress government over steep price revisions in public transport and milk by releasing a satirical AI-generated video featuring Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

The 38-second clip, posted on the state BJP unit's official Instagram page, showed an animated, child-sized version of Shivakumar dressed in a blue-and-white school uniform with a backpack.

In the video, a woman holding a stick repeatedly instructed a boy named "Timma" to fetch everyday essentials and services, only for the character resembling Shivakumar to lament the rising costs of each item.

"Timma, bring milk," the woman said, to which the AI-generated caricature of the chief minister standing before a milk booth replied, "Haalu rate is high, mother." Haalu is the Kannada word for milk.

When told to switch on the fan, the boy held a long, trailing electricity bill and complained that power tariffs were too high. The video went on to target a wide range of civic services and public utilities including transport.

The animated character stood at a bus stop holding a ticket and complained that the ticket rate was too high. When asked to get medicine, the boy stood outside a pharmacy and said in Kannada that even healthcare has been turned into a commercial venture.

Towards the end of the clip, the mother asked the boy to build roads. The character pulled out empty white linings of his uniform pockets and said the state treasury was empty. She then told him to go make "collections" - a political swipe the Opposition BJP often directed at the Congress leadership in Karnataka. The boy suddenly turned cheerful on hearing about "collections".

The AI offensive came amid protests by the BJP in Bengaluru to oppose revised bus ticket rates and hiked prices of other items and services.

Under the new tariff structure, travel on ordinary and express buses across Karnataka has become significantly costlier. While the KSRTC, North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC) have implemented an average fare hike of 23 per cent, the BMTC has raised ticket prices by 33 to 35 per cent.

The transport fare revision followed mounting financial obligations on state-run bus corporations amid the implementation of the Congress government's flagship Shakti scheme, which has provided free travel for women on ordinary state buses since June 2023.

While the state government reimburses the transport utilities for journeys taken under the guarantee scheme, higher passenger volumes and operational overheads have strained the corporations' finances. The bus fare hike also comes on the heels of the Karnataka cabinet approving the price revision for Nandini milk and curd to support dairy farmers and milk cooperatives.

Trade unions have also joined the call for demanding a rollback. The transport fare revision is another anti-people burden imposed on the public just days after milk prices were raised and curd prices were hiked by Rs 14 per litre, K Somashekhar Yadagir, state secretary of the All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC), said in a statement.

"... Due to drought, the life of people in rural areas has become even more miserable. In such a situation, it is condemnable that the government is imposing another economic burden on the common people by increasing bus travel fares," the statement said.

The trade union said financial losses in the state transport utilities stem from administrative leakages and corruption at multiple levels, so the administration should plug these gaps rather than shift the fiscal burden on daily passengers.