Bus driver who criticised Congress protest gets his job back after political furore in Telangana

Stating that a complaint had been lodged against the private hired bus (PHB) driver for criticising Congress leaders staging a dharna at the RDO office in Jagtial, the depot manager issued a letter to the bus owner, Chukka Venugopla, asking him to dismiss Ashok. The issue soon snowballed into a political controversy.

Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) leader T Harish Rao said it reflected the Congress government’s authoritarian functioning. ,”If you question the government, you will be dismissed from your job. That is the message of this government,” Rao said. State BJP president N Ramchander said the government was behaving as it did during the Emergency. Telangana Rakshana Samiti leader K Kavitha demanded that the driver be reinstated immediately.

Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said Wednesday that he had advised TGSRTC to revoke its decision. “The driver is not a TGSRTC employee, he is the driver of a privately owned bus hired by TGSRTC. Even so, I have asked officials not to take any action against him. He will continue in his job. The driver expressed his opinion on behalf of farmers in his native village and we welcome that. There is no need to politicse this matter further,” Prabhakar said.

Ashok said he had not received any instructions from the bus owner and would continue driving on the Jagtial-Dharmapuri route. He said he had not criticised anyone when he stopped the bus near the protest site. In his statement, he said he saw some people from his village among the protestors and told them they should focus on the woes of cotton, maize and paddy farmers still awaiting procurement by the Centre.

Karimnagar BRS MLA Gangula Kamalakar demanded that the Jagtial depot manager who issued the dismissal letter be suspended. ‘The depot manager did not consult any of the higher TGSRTC officials. He decided to issue the letter on his own,” Kamalakar said.