Civic polls: AIADMK men fear fare hike

Though, most of them want to have a crack at the local body polls with the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol, the government’s move of hiking bus fare has come as a dampener. They feel that the bus fare hike had come at a wrong time and the government could have waited till the local body elections got over. They pointed out that former chief minister J Jayalalithaa increased the fare in 2011, only after the local body elections. 

However, party spokesperson and minorities’ wing deputy secretary JCD Prabhakar said, “The fact that the government had gone for the hike at this juncture clearly shows the crisis faced by the transport corporations. Initially, the people resented the move, but people’s anger has subsided after the cut in the fare rates, besides explaining the financial situation of transport corporations. As the government is coming out with numerous welfare measures, the impact of bus fare hike will be negligible in the local body elections.” 

One of the district level functionaries, who visited the party headquarters to obtain membership forms, said, “I do not know about the feeling in cities like Chennai. But, in the delta districts, people eke out a living through agriculture and other allied occupations. Agriculture had failed most of the time in the last few years and this year too, the farmers are facing a crisis. The bus fare hike had added to their woes and we are worried about our prospects, if the civic polls are held within a month.” A woman functionary said, “In Chennai too, people who used to vote for the AIADMK are unhappy with the steep increase in bus fares.” 

However, a section of the workers, feels that the government might not be serious in holding the local body elections, since the leaders too are aware of the implications of such a steep revision. If the government is serious about holding the local body polls, they would not have resorted to the bus fare increase, they opined. 

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday accused the Leader of Opposition MK Stalin of instigating the agitations for political gains. “The DMK instigated the transport workers strike to increase the financial burden and is now instigating the people against the fare hike,” he charged. “The government has brought down the fares, incurring a loss of Rs 4 crore a day,” the Chief Minister said. Palaniswami, who is also the joint co-ordinator of the AIADMK, inaugurated the distribution of party membership forms along with party co-ordinator O Panneerselvam.