Mumbai, April 7 (IANS) In a major boost to AAP, a 12-crore plus strong transporters fraternity expressed its support to the party for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, a group official said here Monday.
The All India Motor Transport Congress, comprising 7.50 million truckers, four million buses and 160,000 good transport companies announced its support to the Aam Aadmi Party of Arvind Kejriwal.
“Besides the truckers and bus operators, there are many helpers, loaders, office and field staff and their families, all of whom will support the AAP,” AIMTC vice president Kultaran Singh told IANS.
AIMTC has given its formal letter of support to AAP, he said, lauding the erstwhile AAP government in Delhi for curbing corruption and setting an example for the rest of the country.
“Never ever have the governments in the past have taken any conscious steps to facilitate, help or took initiative for the development of the (transport) sector. The successive governments have only considered this sector as a source of revenue,” he added.
“For years, the road transport sector is besieged in the vicious circle of bribes and corruption. We are the worst affected as more than Rs.50,000 crores is going as bribes and extortion money into the pockets of corrupt RTOs (road transport officers), DTOs, ST (sales tax)and police officials. No state or district is free from this problem,” the letter added.
Owing to this, the truckers’ margins are continually dwindling due to ever increasing demand of these people on the road, but to sustain our livelihood and avoid harassment, the truckers fall prey to the corrupt system, Singh said.
Accordingly, more than 12 crore people associated with India’s road transport industry across the country have now decided to support the AAP, he said.