Roll back bus fare hike, demand Cong, Left

Opposition parties stage protests against 10% hike in APSRTC bus fare

Vijayawada: The Congress and the Left parties on Saturday held protest demonstrations against bus fare hike at the Pandit Nehru bus terminal. Leaders on the occasion, condemned the latest fare hike announced by the AP State Road Transport Corporation and demanded that the government to roll back the hike with immediate effect.

APCC vice-president Devineni Rajasekhar Nehru said that the hike would hit the common man, and described it as ‘undemocratic and unilateral,’ “It was atrocious on the part of the government to affect a 10 per cent hike, thereby imposing a burden of over Rs 300 crore on the common people.

He wanted the government to explore alternatives to financially strengthen the RTC, rather than shifting the burden on the poor. Youth Congress president Devineni Avinash, city Congress president Malladi Vishnu, leaders Meesala Rajeswara Rao and others also took part in the demonstration.

The CPM activists under the leadership of party Capital Region committee convener Ch Babu Rao burnt the effigy of the State government against the hike and warned that such demonstrations would continue till the new fares were withdrawn.

The party wanted the government to absorb the burden instead of passing it on to the people, said Ch Babu Rao. CPM city secretary Donepudi Kasinath and leader K Sridevi also spoke. Meanwhile, a large number of police were deployed at the venue, even as the traffic police struggled hard to maintain free flow of traffic on the busy road