Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi has organised a ‘Chalo Bus Bhavan’ protest on October 9 over the bus fare hike in Hyderabad.

Party working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) will travel from Rathifile Bus Station in Secunderabad, former education minister Sabitha Indra Reddy will travel from Maheshwaram, and Siddipet MLA Harish Rao will take the bus from Mehdipatnam.

Several other BRS leaders will participate in the protest by travelling from various other places.

Ponnam Prabhakar criticises BRS

Telangana Transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar has criticised the BRS, stating that ‘those who have imposed iron fists on bandhs and protests in the last ten years have no right to call for Chalo Bus Bhavan.’

Speaking about the fare hike, the minister said that since the government has planned to introduce 275 more electric buses in the next 3 months, they have invested in charging stations at depots, each costing Rs 10 crores, and fares have been revised to accommodate the increased costs.

He went on to mention that the Congress government had rolled out the free bus scheme within 48 hours of coming to power in Telangana and has provided 2.5 billion free rides so far.

He said that even RTC employees welfare is being looked after through Pay Revision Commission (PRC), bonds, Provident Funds (PF) and Contributory Pension Scheme(CCS).