Congress Betrayed Telangana's Auto Drivers: KTR

BRS Working President K T Rama Rao today launched a sharp attack on Rahul Gandhi and the Congress government accusing them of betraying Telangana's auto drivers with false promises that had led to deception, despair and hardship.

BRS leaders travelled in autos across Hyderabad to interact with drivers and understand their struggles. As part of the program, KTR rode in an auto from the Jubilee Hills check post to Telangana Bhavan, where he spoke with an auto driver named Mashrat Ali.

KTR said that during the 2023 Telangana election campaign, Rahul Gandhi had personally met and travelled with auto drivers, and promised to establish an Auto Drivers' Welfare Board and provide Rs 12,000 in annual financial assistance to every driver. However, two years later, none of those promises had been fulfilled, KTR said.

The BRS working president said that he had met and spoken with Mashrat Ali, the same auto-rickshaw owner who had driven Rahul Gandhi during his Hyderabad campaign two years ago. Once the proud owner of two auto-rickshaws, Ali had now been forced to sell both due to financial hardship under the Congress government, and worked as a daily-wage driver, renting an auto for Rs 400 per day just to survive, the BRS leader said.

"Two years ago, Rahul Gandhi rode in Mashrat Ali's auto and promised a better life for drivers. Today, that same man has lost both his autos and is struggling to survive. He told me, 'Sir, I was an owner then; today I am a driver. I used to earn Rs 2,500 a day; now I barely make Rs 1,000. The Congress betrayed us. They promised a welfare board and Rs 1,000 monthly support but gave us nothing. They even took away what little we had,'" KTR said.

The BRS working president said that the heartbreaking story reflected the true face of the Congress government, which he said had failed every section of society. "The man who carried Rahul Gandhi in his auto two years ago has now been crushed by the same Congress government. This is not just hypocrisy - it is betrayal. Rahul Gandhi must wake up from his deep slumber. He promised to deliver within 100 days - it's been two years. Auto drivers are losing their livelihoods, and 161 have already taken their own lives due to the government's neglect," he said.

"While Rahul Gandhi continues to make lofty speeches about the poor, his own party's government in Telangana is driving working-class citizens deeper into poverty. Rahul Gandhi preaches compassion and equality, but his government practices betrayal. When you cannot honour promises to poor auto drivers, you lose the moral right to speak about justice," KTR added.

He demanded that Rahul Gandhi take moral responsibility and ensure that his government immediately implemented the Auto Drivers' Welfare Board and the promised Rs 12,000 annual assistance.