The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) hit back at Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday, after his claim that the corporation was 'finished'.
Stating that there was no future for the TSRTC, KCR had told reporters "TSRTC itself is shutting down. What is there to stop the strike?”
The employees, under the banner of the JAC, have been on strike for 20 days now, with their chief demand being the merger of the TSRTC with the government.
"The TSRTC is not anyone’s 'jagir' (property). KCR can’t just say that he wishes to shut it down. This is a clear attempt to destroy our unity," TSRTC JAC convener Ashwathama Reddy told reporters.
“The CM’s statements could provoke extreme reactions and suicides. The RTC is not finished. It has been there since 1932. People will decide who will be finished,” Reddy was quoted as saying.
The RTC JAC has also decided to undertake a tour of the state, travelling through villages, to mobilise support for their cause.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the Chief Minister blamed the leaders of RTC trade unions for the current situation and slammed the opposition parties for instigating them. He said trade union leaders called for strike to get votes in their union elections but they were playing with the lives of innocent employees and their families.
He said RTC had no money to pay salaries to employees for September as the employees themselves cut the branch they were sitting on by going on strike. He said with economic slowdown, the government too had no money to bail out the RTC.
Opposition parties including the BJP also lashed out at KCR's statement.
"BJP condemns the open threat issued by CM KCR to striking RTC employees, that RTC will completely be shut down sooner than later. He has shirked his government's responsibility in mismanaging RTC and its resources all these years, without even appointing a full time Managing Director or a Chairman for such a large corporation," Chief Spokesperson for the Telangana BJP, K Krishna Saagar Rao, said in a statement.