Auto, cab drivers join Congress in Karnataka
Bengaluru: Scores of auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers joined the DK Shivakumar-led Congress on Saturday, through which the party hopes to make electoral gains.
Tanveer Pasha, the president of the Ola Uber Drivers’ & Owners’ Association as well as the Karnataka State Auto & Taxi Federation was inducted into the party by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar.
Jai Bharat Auto Drivers’ Association president Chandra also joined the Congress. This is yet another blow to the JD(S) as Pasha headed the regional party’s transport unit.
Meanwhile, JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy was hoping to cash in on the drivers’ sentiments when he backed the launch of a new app-based cab aggregator service Namma TYGR in 2017. Shivakumar said that the Congress would fight for the rights of the drivers who faced ‘injustice’ during the Covid-19 lockdown.
‘During the lockdown, we mounted pressure on the government to announce an aid of Rs 10,000 per month to help the drivers as their lives were affected. The state government announced a one-time aid of just Rs 5,000 to only 7.75 lakh drivers. According to us, there are 32 lakh licensed drivers in the state. Not even 10% of the drivers have received the Rs 5,000 aid that was announced,’ Shivakumar said.
Shivakumar also announced the activation of a new drivers’ cell of the KPCC. The party wants to make the most of the onboarding of Pasha and his associates in the upcoming November 3 Rajarajeshwarinagar bypoll.
‘There are 7,000 drivers that we have identified in this constituency. They’ve decided to express their ire against the injustice they faced,’ Shivakumar said.
Of late, Shivakumar has inducted several leaders and office-bearers of the JD(S), the regional party that is the Congress’ arch-rival in the Vokkaliga-dominated Old Mysuru region.