THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: KSRTC CMD Biju Prabhakar has gone on leave amid the tussle with Transport Minister KB Ganesh Kumar on various policy matters.
He has applied for leave till February 17 citing personal reasons. His leave application came when the government was considering his request to relieve him from the post of CMD. He has not been part of the activities in KSRTC since he returned from a foreign trip on January 28. Meanwhile, Ganesh Kumar responded that he was not aware of the development.
It is expected that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will take a final decision on Biju Prabhakar’s request.
The rift between the CMD and the minister cropped up from the very beginning when the latter took charge on January 3. Ganesh Kumar fired the first salvo by criticising the expenditure in KSRTC, hinting at the management under his predecessor Antony Raju, and Biju Prabhakar who was acting as his trusted lieutenant.
Ganesh Kumar criticised the electric bus policy, which was the pet project of Antony Raju, and announced plans to reverse it, and introduce more diesel buses. Despite being part of the ruling LDF, Antony Raju came out against the new decisions of Ganesh Kumar. While the Antony Raju-Biju Prabhakar duo kept the trade union leaders at a distance, Ganesh Kumar made it a point to include their opinions in policy decisions.
The tussle between the CMD and the minister came to a flash point when the report on the performance of KSRTC - Swift electric buses was leaked to the media before it was submitted to the minister. The report debunked some of the claims of the minister that the electric bus services were not profitable.
Ganesh Kumar expressed his displeasure at KSRTC officials about the leakage of the report and sought an explanation from the management. By then Biju Prabhakar had left for his foreign trip, leaving the charge to joint MD Pramoj Shankar.
The minister was further on the defensive after the CPM leaders came out against his stand against the electric bus policy.