The open defiance by the 48,000-odd employees of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) in ignoring the deadline fixed by Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for them to re-join the duty unconditionally left him completely red-faced.
Apparently, KCR thought the RTC employees would dump the Union leaders and return to their duties following his ultimatum, stating that the doors for their employment would be permanently closed and the government would privatise the RTC completely, if they don’t return to their duties by midnight of Tuesday.
But the RTC employees cared a damn for his diktats and refused to come back to their duties, except around 250 people who are mostly office staff.
This is a sort of open humiliation for KCR, who has been under the impression that he had the people’s mandate to do whatever he wanted and that the employees would have to follow his orders.
It makes one wonder whether KCR has lost grip on the state. It is a huge loss of face for the chief minister as his multiple deadlines have not worked.
“It's evident that people of Telangana have lost respect on his statements, warnings and deadlines. They have lost trust, reliability and are openly denouncing his decisions,” BJP spokesman K Krishna Sagar Rao said.
He said this could as well be the beginning of eventual downfall of KCR and his party.
“It is also time for senior administrative officers to give up on the chief minister and we are very confident that it will happen sooner than later,” Rao said.
