BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar on Wednesday said the Congress and NCP had assured a merger of MSRTC with the Maharashtra transport department in their manifestos for 2019 Assembly polls but now they are delaying the implementation of this promise.
Employees of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) have been on strike since October 28 for the merger demand.
Several BJP leaders have supported the strike. Meanwhile, some Shiv Sena leaders have circulated an old video of former finance minister Mungantiwar in which he is purportedly responding negatively to a local MSRTC employee demanding the cash-strapped corporation's amalgamation with the state government.
After this video went viral, Mungantiwar released a statement saying, "The Congress and NCP in their election manifestos released ahead of the 2019 assembly polls promised the merger of MSRTC with the state transport department. The move would have ensured that MSRTC staffers become employees of the state government. Why are both the parties not implementing that promise?" "Was this promise added in the manifesto after attending a drug cruise party?" the BJP leader asked sarcastically.
Referring to his old video clip, Mungantiwar said he was trying to inform the person that a merger proposal has to come from the state transport department, which was with Shiv Sena then.
"The erstwhile BJP-Shiv Sena government had helped employees of MSRTC by providing them with financial assistance and also approved new buses among other measures," he claimed.
