Senior Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader and former Minister T Harish Rao warned Congress MP Rahul Gandhi against setting foot in Hyderabad again without first addressing the plight of thousands of auto-rickshaw drivers. Demanding that the State government immediately clear the ₹24,000 due to each driver, as promised during the 2023 Assembly elections, he stated there would be statewide protests if the issue remained unresolved.
“Rahul Gandhi rode in autos for votes during elections and abandoned them after coming to power. If he comes to Hyderabad again, our auto drivers will block him in Shamshabad,” he asserted.
The BRS staged a symbolic protest across Hyderabad on Monday, with party leaders travelling in autos to express solidarity with the drivers. Harish Rao, accompanied by Kukatpally MLA Madhavaram Krishna Rao, travelled from his residence in Kokapet to Erragadda and then to Telangana Bhavan, where he interacted with drivers about their hardships.
Speaking on the occasion, the senior BRS legislator said the Revanth Reddy government was betraying all sections of society, including farmers, women, employees, and auto drivers.
“The promises of ₹12,000 annual aid, Auto Nagar and an Auto Welfare Board were reduced to empty slogans. Not a rupee has reached the drivers in two years,” he charged, estimating the total dues at ₹1,500 crore.
Harish Rao criticised the government for finding thousands of crores to beautify the Musi River while denying ₹1,000 monthly assistance to struggling auto drivers. “Revanth Reddy carries cash bags to Delhi but has no empathy for Telangana’s auto drivers,” he said, adding that free bus rides for women had further damaged the livelihood of auto drivers.
Demanding ₹10 lakh ex-gratia for 161 drivers who died by suicide, he urged auto drivers across the State to unite and defeat the Congress in the Jubilee Hills by-election, in order to teach the party a lesson and compel it to implement its electoral promises.
Also read: BRS flays Cong over plans to develop Jubilee Hills
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