Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was in for a pleasant surprise when a first-year law student presented him a garland made from free bus tickets.

The gesture was seen as a way to express her gratitude towards Siddaramaiah for launching 'Shakti' guarantee scheme, one of the five key pre-poll promises of the Congress.

Unveiled in June last year, the scheme offers free ride to women in non-luxury government buses within the state.

Since its introduction, it has logged 194.39 crore free rides, which has cost the state exchequer Rs 4,673.56 crore, according to officials of the Transport Department.

M A Jayashree offered the garland during an election campaign rally Siddaramaiah attended at Arsikere in this district on Monday evening.

While presenting the garland, Jayashree said: "You allowed me to travel in buses for free, so I could study law smoothly." "Therefore, I kept all the free tickets and made this garland. I have been waiting for months for an opportunity to present it to you. When I heard you were coming to Arsikere today, I ran here with the garland in one breath'," a statement issued by Siddaramaiah's office quoted her as saying.

The Chief Minister was overwhelmed by the gesture, and saw it also as a "garland of our government's achievements." In a post on 'X', he also sought to take a dig at opponents of the guarantee schemes. "She wishes to 'complete law studies and serve the society as a good lawyer and show the right path to the misguided people who accuse girls of going astray due to guarantee schemes."

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