BJP To Support RTC Staff's Million March on Nov 9

BJP Telangana President Dr K Laxman today announced his party's full support to the "Million March" on November 9 called by the TSRTC employees' unions' JAC in support of their demands.

Addressing the media at the State BJP office, Laxman said that his party would support and also join in the march being organized by striking RTC employees on Saturday.

Accusing the TRS government of adopting an adamant attitude towards the RTC employees, Laxman said that the State government had totally failed in handling the issue. He said that the one-month-long RTC strike had not only affected the normal life of the general public, it had also severely inconvenienced patients, students and the poor.

Instead of trying to resolve the problems of the 48,000 striking employees, the Chief Minister was just provoking and intimidating them, Laxman said.

The fact that the striking employees did not respond to three deadlines given so far by KCR and to all his intimidation showed how much the issues they went on strike over concerned them, he added. That merely 300 employees joined duty while 48,000 continued to stay on strike was a giant victory for the RTC employees and a defeat to the Chief Minister, he claimed, and demanded that KCR take moral responsibility for the employees not heeding to his deadlines and resign.

He alleged that TRS government was aiming to usurp the properties of the TSRTC, which was why it was not trying to amicably resolve the issue. It had even resorted to trying to mislead the High Court by getting senior IAS officers to furnish false reports, and KCR was continuously misleading the people about the MV Act passed recently by the Central government, he added. The TRS was clearly trying to privatise the RTC, but the BJP would fight in support of the RTC employees till they got justice, he promised.

The BJP had formed a 3-member committee comprising of the party's ex-MPs Jitender Reddy and G Vivek and ex-MLC Mohan Reddy to evolve the party's future course of action in support of the RTC employees, he said.

He said that the State unit of the party had also apprised the State governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, BJP national working president J P Nadda and home minister Amit Shah of the situation.

Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind, and former MPs A P Jitender Reddy and G Vivek were present.