On the 1st of November, the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) employees staged a protest against the Telangana Government, in Karimnagar, Hyderabad.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) called for a rally called “Chalo Karimnagar” to protest against the Government, after multiple employees died due to the ongoing TSRTC strike.
The situation worsened after the opposition parties called for a shutdown in support of the TSRTC employees who were protesting in Karimnagar. The protest came after a TSRTC employee, identified as N. Babu, died due to cardiac arrest on the 30th of October.
Babu stepped out of his house to attend the public meeting organised by the TSRTC and the Joint Action Committee (JAC) on the 30th of October. However, he fell and collapsed during the meeting. He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died. The TSRTC employees blamed the TRS Government for Babu’s death.
Babu is not the first TSRTC employee to die of a heart attack during the ongoing strike. In the past 26 days, many TSRTC employees died of heart attacks, whereas many others committed suicide. So far, 3 employees committed suicide and six died of cardiac arrest.
The Telangana Police are trying to control the situation and deployed police force in the area and at Babu’s residence.
The political leaders who participated in the protest were Bandi Sanjay Kumar, a Member of Parliament (MP) of the Bharatiya Janata Party, along with Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders. The TSRTC employees staged a strike on the 31st of October with the body of the TSRTC employee.
They even refused to perform the last rites till the TRS Government calls them for talks and resolves the matter by agreeing to their demands.
The TSRTC employees are expected to call for a protest at every bus depot in Telangana against the State Government, blaming the latter for the deaths of the TSRTC employees.
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also supported the TSRTC workers and called for the closure of educational institutions across the State.
The TSRTC strike started on the 5th of October and entered its 27th day on the 1st of November.
Stay tuned for further updates.
