Amid backlash, Kerala Transport Minister C.P. John apologises for controversial remark about women availing free bus travel scheme
Kerala Transport Minister C.P. John has apologized for remarks suggesting women were faking poverty to exploit a free bus travel scheme. The comments drew sharp criticism from opposition parties and internal party members who feared the statement undermined the government's women empowerment agenda.
Why it matters
The incident highlights the political sensitivity of social welfare programs and the potential for public gaffes to damage election-year narratives.
Kerala’s Transport Minister C.P. John on Wednesday (August 5, 2026) apologised for appearing to suggest that women faked poverty to avail themselves of free-of-charge travel on Kerala State Road Transport Corporation’s (KSRTC) ordinary class buses under the United Democratic Front (UDF) government’s flagship Priyadarshini Free Travel (Women Empowerment) Scheme.
Mr John’s remark on Monday had unleashed a wave of social criticism, which threatened to submerge the UDF’s political pivot towards women empowerment, a main talking point in the ruling alliance’s 2026 Assembly election manifesto.
His comments had also sparked intense attacks against the UDF government from Opposition parties, with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the UDF of slighting women by implying that they were trying to scrounge off the social security scheme.
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