Kheri BJP leaders on Sunday were seen commuting by public transport, leaving behind their SUVs in what they described as an effort to promote fuel conservation in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s call for austerity amid the ongoing West Asia conflict.BJP MLA Lokendra Pratap Singh (right) riding a UP Roadways bus in Mohammadi town on Sunday. (HT)Mohammadi BJP MLA Lokendra Pratap Singh left his SUV at home and travelled in a UP Roadways bus to attend a party training camp in Gola on Sunday.Accompanied by city BJP president Manoj Gupta, mandal president Anuj Kumar Singh, Anoop, Mahendra Bajpai and other party workers, the MLA reached the Mohammadi bus stand, where party supporters gathered to see him off before he boarded the bus.Before taking his seat, Singh referred to the ongoing crisis in West Asia and appealed to people to reduce consumption of petrol, diesel and LPG in the interest of the nation.“Greater use of public transport in daily life would not only conserve fuel but also help reduce road accidents,” he added.Following suit, Gola Nagar Palika chairman Vijay Shukla, popularly known as ‘Rinku’, was also spotted travelling in an e-rickshaw along with his aide and gunner.Photographs and videos of the BJP leaders using public transport went viral on social media, triggering a debate among local residents over whether the exercise reflected a genuine austerity drive or was merely symbolic optics.