Hyderabad: There was a potent mixture of anger and excitement in the air. Thousands of TSRTC employees from all over Telangana turned up for the ‘Sakala Janula Samara Bheri’ at the Saroornagar indoor stadium on Wednesday afternoon. It was organised by a coterie of major employees' unions. After 26 days of being on strike, this was a show of strength by the employees of the Road Transport Corporation against the government.
The employees made for a raucous crowd. Many shouted abuses targeting Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. Some of these insults took the form of musical slogans. One person as he was being herded inside the complex by policemen, shouted in Telugu, calling KCR a ‘thief’. People nearby cheered in unison.
Many protesters could not enter the stadium where the main event was held because there was just no space for them. The indoor stadium can only hold 5,000 people. A senior policeman stationed at the location estimated that at least 15,000 had turned up.
A group of women conductors from Siddipet was huddled outside the stadium. One of them was clutching her recent payslip, hoping to show it to a journalist. Holding it up, she said, “Look at this figure at the bottom. I get paid Rs 26,000 per month. But TRS propaganda claims we make more than Rs 50,000.”
A colleague sitting next to her said they are worried about what will happen at the month's end. They said they didn't know how they would pay rent and other bills. Nonetheless, they said they would not give up but remain on strike until their demands are met.
Balreddy, a bus driver from Nalgonda district, said he had come to Hyderabad in a DCM (truck) with his colleagues. Once Balreddy was done hurling abuses at the chief minister, he asked this journalist whether there was a chance the strike could come to an end soon. “I know we are all (the employees) in this together, but the government seems to be very stubborn about talking to us. We only want them to talk to us as equals,” he said.
A conductor from Shadnagar, when asked how long he might have to stay on strike, simply shrugged and said, “I don't know what that (KCR) will do. He is like a snake. He has betrayed us.”
