*Chandrababu plotting RTC privatisation again under the pretext of Electric buses: Perni Nani*

Machilipatnam, May 17:YSRCP leader and former minister Perni Venkatramaiah (Nani) criticised Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu of once again conspiring to privatise APSRTC by using electric buses and the free bus scheme for women as excuses. Speaking to the media in Machilipatnam, Perni Nani said Chandrababu has always been a threat to RTC whenever he comes to power and alleged that the coalition government is now preparing the ground to hand over RTC operations to private players.

He said Chandrababu had already attempted to privatise RTC in 2004, but could not succeed because Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy came to power and protected the corporation. Today, the same Chandrababu is again trying to weaken RTC and blame women’s free bus travel scheme for the financial crisis. Perni Nani questioned why the coalition government claims it cannot operate electric buses when the previous Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government successfully purchased and operated 100 electric buses, including 50 buses for Tirumala services, after giving proper training to RTC drivers. He said those buses are still running successfully even today.

Perni Nani stated that Chandrababu left RTC in a disastrous condition in 2019 with nearly Rs. 9,000 crore liabilities, including Rs. 6,300 crore operational debt and over Rs. 3,300 crore pending dues to employees. He said Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy not only merged 55,000 RTC employees into the government system but also reduced RTC debt burden drastically to around Rs. 2,000–Rs. 2,500 crore by the end of his tenure. He questioned why banks are now unwilling to lend to RTC if the coalition government claims the corporation is financially stable.

He stated that instead of reimbursing RTC properly for zero-ticket travel issued under the women’s free bus scheme, the government is deliberately starving the corporation financially to justify privatisation later. He accused Chandrababu of treating RTC like TDP’s private property while never genuinely strengthening the organisation.

Perni Nani also took sharp exception to the remarks made by Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan regarding harassment of Jana Sena cadre by TDP leaders. He questioned why Pawan remained silent for nearly two years despite repeatedly admitting that Jana Sena workers were facing humiliation, attacks, and political harassment from TDP leaders. Referring to incidents in Machilipatnam and elsewhere, he said Jana Sena activists were suffering while Pawan Kalyan continued to remain in the coalition government without taking action.

He further reminded that the plan to form an anti-YSRCP alliance was not new and had already been openly declared during the Ippatam meeting itself. Perni Nani said Pawan Kalyan’s latest comments about “contesting alone” sounded hollow and politically inconsistent, as the coalition strategy against YSRCP had been decided long ago.