Online trucking platform BlackBuck Co-Founder & CEO Rajesh Yabaji on Tuesday announced that the company has decided to move out of its current location at Bellandur on Bengaluru's Outer Ring Road (ORR), citing commuting and road infrastructure problems. ORR, one of the city’s key IT corridors, is notorious for its traffic congestion.
“ORR (Bellandur) has been our ‘office + home’ for the last nine years. But it’s now very, very hard to continue here. We have decided to move out,” Yabaji posted on X.
He added, “Average commute for my colleagues has shot up to 1.5+ hours (one way). Roads are full of potholes and dust, with the lowest intent to get them rectified. I don’t see any of this changing in the next five years.”
Naturally, the post sparked a political storm, prompting Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to respond. He said the government was committed to resolving such issues rather than indulging in blame games.
He then made a pointed remark: “We are here to solve the problem. I’ve asked the IT minister... in every part of the country this problem persists; only Bengaluru is making noise.”
What the Deputy Chief Minister likely meant was that infrastructure and civic issues exist in all major cities, but Bengaluru seems to be singled out. Indeed, hardly a day passes without social media posts portraying the city negatively — be it poor roads or controversies over non-Kannadigas being targeted for not learning the local language.
For instance, commuting in Hyderabad after heavy rain is a nightmare, with the city coming to a standstill. Yet, this has never dented ‘Brand Hyderabad.’ Similarly, a recent campaign in Telangana under the slogan Marwari Go Back, alleging discrimination and exploitation, fizzled out quickly and did not affect the city’s overall image.
So, why is Bengaluru being targeted? Is it because the state is run by a non-BJP government? If so, why isn’t Hyderabad, also under a Congress government, receiving similar criticism? Or is the so-called “Modi media” trying to elevate Gurugram over Bengaluru as India’s tech capital?
Consider this: Bengaluru’s GDP is far higher than Hyderabad’s. Congress’ victory in Karnataka helped finance its election campaign in Telangana, giving the state political weight the BJP cannot ignore. Promoting Gurugram, rooted in the Hindi heartland, would also serve the BJP’s long-term strategy.
Yet, at the end of the day, the central question remains: is there a deliberate attempt to tarnish Bengaluru’s image, or is this merely a figment of political imagination?
