Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar described the ongoing strike by Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) employees as motivated, and took aim and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Chandrasekhar Rao. He extended an olive branch to workers urging them to call off the agitation asserting that the government remained open to resolving all outstanding issues.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday (April 22, 2026), the Transport Minister said that the TGSRTC was a lifeline for the poor and supported around 40,000 [worker] families. He said alternative arrangements, including increased MMTS and Metro services in Hyderabad, had been initiated.
Mr. Prabhakar said union leaders walked out of talks with a committee of senior IAS officers after over five hours of discussions on Tuesday (April 21, 2026) and proceeded with the strike. He sought to connect the break down in talks to the recent comments by BRS leaders, including K. Chandrasekhar Rao and T. Harish Rao, against the ‘Mahalakshmi’ free bus travel scheme.
He alleged that the agitation was being politically instigated to cast aspersions on the scheme. He also alleged that some of those leading the protest were retired individuals or not currently employed with the RTC.
