- By Shubham Bajpai
- Sun, 05 Oct 2025 05:39 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Bengaluru Namma Metro: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday proposed to rename the Bengaluru Namma Metro to Basava Metro. The new name is proposed in honour of Basavanna, a 12th-century social reformer.
Siddaramaiah was speaking at a public event when he revealed his plans to forward the name-change recommendation to the Central government.
"I will recommend to the Central government to name Namma Metro as ‘Basava Metro’. If it were entirely a state government project, I would have announced it as 'Basava Metro' today itself,” Siddaramaiah was quoted by Matrabhumi as saying.
The Bengaluru Namma Metro is operated by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), which is founded by both the state and central governments.
Bengaluru Metro: Lines and ridership
The BMRCL is currently operating three lines, namely the Purple Line or Line 1, the Green Line or Line 2, and the Yellow Line.
The Bengaluru Metro has a total operational track of 96 km and is growing as projects are lined up. With the launch of the Yellow Line, the daily ridership of the Namma Metro has crossed 10 lakh.
While the Purple Lin stretches 43.5 km and has 37 stations, the Green Line stretches 30 km with 29 stations.
The newly inaugurated Yellow Line currently stretches to 19.15 km on a completely elevated corridor with 16 stations from RV Road to Bommasandra.
Who was Basava?
A philosopher and poet, Basava was a social reformer with the Lingayat tradition. He was also known as Basavesvara or Basavanna. He is remembered for his role in the Shaivya Bhakti movement during the reign of the Chalukya and Kalachuri dynasties