MLAs feel RTC strike doesn’t bode well for municipal polls

Majority of RTC staff stays in municipalities, so do commuters

The triumph at Huzurnagar notwithstanding, Telangana Rashtra Samiti MLAs are worried that the Road Transport Corporation strike will have an adverse impact on the party if it went in for municipal elections without resolving the strike first.

They are apprehensive of the anger of not only the striking employees but also of commuters who are struggling for transport options as the buses continue to stay off the roads.

Many ruling party MLAs say in private that as most of the bus depots are located in urban areas, and a majority of RTC staff stays in municipalities and municipal corporation towns, their disaffection would affect the party.

The RTC has 97 depots in urban areas including the twin cities, Warangal and Khammam municipal corporations which are not going to the polls. The rest of them are located in Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Ramagundam and the newly constituted corporations. Ruling party MLAs said that every depot has 500 employees on average and if they will vote against the TRS if the strike is not resolved amicably. The absence of their votes could tilt the balance in narrow contests.

The legislators are of the opinion that though the RTC strike did not impact the Huzurnagar by-election, it would certainly have a fall-out on the municipal polls in view of the presence of a considerable number of RTC employees in urban areas.

The MLAs admitted that students using public transport are finding it difficult to commute to school. Some temporary crew members are not honouring the bus passes and the students have to buy their tickets. This is seen as something that