THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Day after the KSRTC flash strike held the capital to ransom for five hours and claimed the life of an elderly man, Left allies CPM and CPI locked horns over the stir. While minister Kadakampally Surendran of CPM came down heavily on the state transport employees, CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran justified the strike and even ridiculed the minister. According to Kanam, the police are to be blamed for the fiasco and not the KSRTC employees. “Can buses be parked in the sky?” asked Kanam.
In the assembly and outside, Kadakampally had used harsh words to criticise the KSRTC staff who created chaos. While he termed it a raffish strike in the assembly, speaking to media after visiting the house of Surendran who died on Wednesday, Kadakampally said the KSRTC staff should be aware that their salary was taxpayer’s money. “The flash strike can’t be justified and the blockade created by parking buses on the roads was highly improper. Don’t they have a sense of social responsibility?,” the minister asked.
Kanam’s response was blunt: “Where would they park the vehicle if not the road? In the sky?” He blamed the police action against the KSRTC staff for the problems. He said the police worsened the situation and the employees were forced to take to the streets after the police failed to solve the issue even after two hours, he said.
The CPI state secretary even justified the employees parking the buses in the middle of the road. According to him the traffic standstill was not due to buses parked on the road. The government should look into the issue and identify the culprits in the issue, he demanded.
UDF attacks govt
In the assembly, the UDF attacked the government saying the traffic standstill was due to the tussle between two departments — police and transport. It seems the flash strike has become another point of disagreement between the ruling allies.