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Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla on Thursday reached the IT city to address a tech summit, where he joked that it was harder to navigate the city’s traffic than to travel to space
The traffic on Bengaluru’s roads is an everyday news item, with commuters often taking to social media to vent about their commute times. (Photo Credit: X)
R Ashoka, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, doubled down on astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla’s remark on Bengaluru traffic and blamed the Congress government for the situation.
Ashoka said it is easier to travel from space to Bengaluru but not from Marathahalli, a suburb in the eastern part of the city, closer to the IT hub.
“Wherever you go, you only see potholes and garbage. How can anybody travel from Marathahalli to Bengaluru city? Even a BMTC bus can’t move. There has been no development in Bengaluru, and they (the Congress) have not spent a single paisa,” the BJP leader said.
The traffic on Bengaluru’s roads is an everyday news item, with commuters often taking to social media to vent about their commute times.
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla on Thursday reached the IT city to address a tech summit, where he joked that it was harder to navigate the city’s traffic than to travel to space.
Shukla, an Indian Air Force officer and test pilot, is among the four astronauts selected for India’s first manned space mission, Gaganyaan, scheduled for 2027.
Speaking before a packed audience at the summit, he said his commute from Marathahalli to the venue took three times longer than his actual presentation.
“I’m coming all the way from the other side of Bengaluru, Marathahalli. I have spent thrice the time that I am going to be spending on this presentation with you. So you have to look at the commitment that I have,” he quipped.
Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge, during the closing-day session of the summit, assured Shubhanshu Shukla that the government would work to ensure such delays do not happen in the future.
Shukla completed his maiden space voyage as part of the Axiom-4 mission, a commercial spaceflight supported by ISRO and NASA, and operated by Axiom Space.
During his address, Shukla also showed a small video clip showing how bright Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and other big cities look from the space in the night sky.
“All I can say to you at the end of the day is that you saw how bright India looks from space right now, but having met all of you and spoken to so many people, I can assure you that our future is even brighter than it looks in this slide,” the Group Captain said.
Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter –twitter.com/saurabhkverma19
Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter –twitter.com/saurabhkverma19
November 21, 2025, 13:51 IST
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