Will The RTC Strike Adversely Affect TRS In Huzurnagar By-Election?

Hyderabad, Oct.20 (Maxim News): Will the unresolved state-wide RTC strike adversely impact the ruling TRS in the by-elections in Huzurnagar, polling for which will take place on Monday? Though the answer to this question will be known when counting takes place on October 24, uncertainty is looming large in the ruling party circles in the wake of the RTC strike gaining steam due to the adamant posture of the state administration.

The by-election to Huzurnagar Assembly seat was necessitated after TPCC President and sitting member, Uttam Kumar Reddy, vacated the seat on being elected to Lok Sabha. His wife Padmavathi Reddy, who faced defeat in the nearby constituency in the advanced Assembly elections in December last year, is now trying her luck in her husbands constituency as the Congress nominee.

The ruling TRS which lost the seat to Uttam Kumar Reddy in the last elections is again trying its political fortunes. Thus it is a prestigious election for both TRS and the Congress and both the parties have left no stone unturned to woo the electorate. Though the BJP and TDP are also in the field, the contest appears to be mainly between TRS and the Congress.

The TRS to boost its chances has succeeded in garnering the support of the CPI, which has a considerable clout in the district. However, the RTC strike has put a spanner in the wheel for the TRS with the CPI withdrawing its support to the ruling party as a protest against the adamant attitude of Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao to initiate negotiations for resolving the bus strike.

As a matter of fact KCR’s divide and rule policy came to the fore when he invited and resolved the pending issues of TNGOs and the electricity employees but refused to budge an inch to heed to the demands of the RTC employees, who had served the strike notice well in advance. What is more, as the buses remained off the roads for a fortnight and the striking staff gained support and sympathy from other trade unions, opposition parties, students and teachers organizations, the High Court had to intervene to mitigate the sufferings of the commuters.

Taking a serious view of the adamant attitude of the Chief Minister in the matter, the High Court went to the extent of directing the state administration to initiate talks on October 19 and set a three-day deadline to resolve the issue. However KCR seemed to have preferred to ignore the judiciary’s directive rather than invite the striking employees for talks.

As the stalemate continued with the buses remaining confined to the depots, some striking employees resorting to extreme methods like attempting suicides with uncertainty of the fate of 48,000 RTC employees, who have been declared by KCR as “self terminated”, the resentment against the government’s stand, especially with the “dictatorial” attitude of KCR, began to gain momentum. And the by-elections in Huzurnagar seem to have come in handy for the RTC employees as well as the people who have been subjected to innumerable hardships for lack of bus transport to show their mite.

Therefore it should not come as a surprise if the RTC strike affects the chances of TRS in the by-election and which turn might sound the death knell for the ruling party in the state. (Maxim News)