Battle against KCR's dictatorial regime has now begun: Congress

Hyderabad: Congress leaders including Hyderabad City Congress Minorities Department Chairman Sameer Waliullah, TPCC Spokesperson Syed Nizamuddin, TPCC Secretary Sajid Shareef, C. Santosh and others were arrested by the police when they tried to participate in the protest of laying siege to Pragathi Bhavan, CM's official residence, demanding resolution of problems being faced by RTC employees.

The Congress leaders, who were on the constant watch by police since last night, somehow managed to reach the party headquarters Gandhi Bhavan on Monday afternoon. As soon as they came to march towards Pragathi Bhavan, they were surrounded by the police personnel. They burnt the effigy of KCR outside Gandhi Bhavan and raised slogans against his dictatorial behaviour towards RTC employees.

Speaking to media persons on the occasion, Sameer Waliullah strongly condemned the behaviour of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao towards RTC employees and described it as inhuman and insensitive. He alleged that the Chief Minister was dragging the issue to escalate the sufferings of RTC workers. "All RTC workers are salaried class and one can imagine their situation when their salaries are delayed by more than 20 days. Just to prove his authority, the Chief Minister has ruined their financial condition and him still not willing to either pay salary dues to initiate talks to find a solution," he said.

He said the delay in payment of September salaries led to non-clearance of EMIs and other financial commitments. He said so far nine employees died of a heart attack while two others committed suicide. With no clarity on when the crisis would be resolved, he feared that the situation might turn from bad to worse.

Sameer alleged that the TRS Government was creating a humanitarian crisis out of RTC strike. "More than 48,000 employees have been illegally declared 'self-dismissed'. The government is not willing to listen to the Governor, High Court, opposition parties, unions or civil society. This might be the first time in history that the future of thousands of employees and a huge corporation depends on the mood of an individual, who happens to be an elected Chief Minister. It is highly unfortunate that the Telangana has turned into a dictatorship with no one having the freedom to express their views," he said while announcing that the battle Congress party would continue its fight for justice for RTC employees. He said that the battle against KCR's dictatorial regime has now begun.

Meanwhile, TPCC Official Spokesperson Syed Nizamuddin alleged that the TRS Government was trying to downplay the impact of RTC strike before the High Court. Instead of explaining measures which it took to end the strike, he said that the TRS Government was more focussed on finding alternatives. He said it was not legally and morally not possible to snatch away the jobs of more than 48,000 employees in a single stroke and replace with them, temporary staff. Therefore, instead of giving false narratives of resolving the RTC crisis with alternate measures, CM KCR should hold talks with RTC unions to find a permanent solution. He said lakhs of commuters were facing huge inconveniences due to absence of a required number of buses on roads. Further, he said that the government was putting the lives of thousands of passengers at risk by engaging inexperienced and untrained drivers.

The Congress leaders were later arrested by the police and shifted to Begumpet Police Station.