AP MINISTER SEES NO COURT TROUBLE ON RTC

AP minister for transport, Perni Venkataramaiah, ruled out any trouble occurring with regard to the proposed merger of AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) with the state government given the revelations of the centre with regard to the corporation in the Telangana High Court on Thursday.

The minister said that the APSRTC board had a representative from the centre and it had accepted the merger of RTC employees into the government.

Referring to the ongoing tussle on this issue in Telangana state, where the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation is demanding it be merged into the government, the minister said this would have no impact in AP.

Venkataramaiah made it clear that the merger of APSRTC into the AP government was only a technical issue. Reacting to the centre’s statement that there would be no bifurcation of the RTC between P and TS, the minister wondered how it could allocate funds for purchase of electric buses separately for both the states.

On other issues, the minister slammed former minister, J.C. Diwakar Reddy, for “lying” about the seizure of buses that belonged to him and said that the state government was going by the rules with regard to seizure of buses.

Referring to speculation that Mr Diwakar Reddy may join the YSRC, the minister asked who had invited him.

He said that as the veteran leader was in the last leg of his political life, there was no need for him in the party.