Watch | KTR drives auto to Telangana Assembly in solidarity with drivers

Other BRS members also reached the assembly in autos.

Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao or KTR, of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party on Wednesday drove an auto to the Telangana Assembly, in a mark of solidarity for the drivers.

Other BRS MLAs also arrived in autos.

The party has been urging the Telangana government to come out in support of auto drivers, whose livelihoods appear to have been hit after the state rolled out the free bus travel service.

The auto unions also sought compensation from the Congress government there, led by Revanth Reddy.

In the 13-point list of demands, the auto drivers sought permits for 20,000 autorickshaws in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation area as well as ex-gratia payments for those who lost their livelihoods. The drivers also wanted a welfare board to be set up dedicated to them. Besides this, the drivers had called for an increase in the minimum fare on auto meters, citing a steady rise in the cost of fuel over the last decade, The Hindu reported.

At the time, KTR, addressing a meeting, had said that the state government should pay the auto drivers Rs 5,000 per month in lieu of their impacted livelihood. The BRS leader, meanwhile, clarified that he was not against the free bus travel scheme.

KTR had recounted how many autorickshaw drivers had told him that they'd make Rs 2,000 a day before the bus travel freebie was rolled out, and since then, they have found it hard to make ends meet.

KTR also recounted when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had gotten onto an autorickshaw last year and assured the community that the government would address their issue. However, KTR's contention was that this apparently turned out to be a mirage like the party's other promises.