KTR says people feel cheated by Congress after two years in power

KTR accused the Congress government of cheating people with false promises, especially autorickshaw drivers. He claimed the government owed Rs.1,560 crore to workers and demanded Rs.10 lakh ex gratia for families of deceased drivers. He also warned of a maha dharna in February.

Rajanna-Sircilla: BRS working president KT Rama Rao said on Wednesday that after two years of Congress rule, people had realised they were cheated by the ruling party in the name of ‘marpu’ (change).

Stating that all sections including farmers, youth and women were deceived by the Congress through its ‘420 assurances’, he said the government had lied on the farm loan waiver after taking fake oaths in the name of gods.

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Rama Rao, who had earlier promised insurance cover to autorickshaw drivers in the district, distributed insurance bonds at a programme in Sircilla on Wednesday. Speaking at the event, he claimed that the Congress, which had promised Rs.1,000 financial assistance per month to every autorickshaw driver, had gone back on its word. Since it promised Rs.1,000 per month, the government must now pay Rs.24,000 to each worker for a period of two years, he said. In total, the government owed autorickshaw workers Rs.1,560 crore and he demanded that the dues be cleared immediately.

He reminded that BRS president K Chandrashekhar Rao had provided Rs.5 lakh insurance coverage to 13 lakh workers in various unorganised sectors including farmers, autorickshaw drivers, toddy tappers and weavers. However, the Congress government abolished the facility, resulting in 162 drivers dying by suicide, which he termed ‘government murders’.

Promising to continue the fight for drivers’ rights, Rama Rao warned of a maha dharna in Hyderabad in February if the government failed to constitute an autorickshaw drivers’ welfare board by the next Assembly session.

He said the Congress government would not give anything easily and had to be questioned ‘by the collar’, stressing that agitation was necessary. He demanded Rs.10 lakh as ex gratia for the families of deceased drivers.

Rama Rao also advised drivers to form a credit cooperative society for their welfare and promised to provide insurance coverage to all drivers in the district by Sankranthi festival.