Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has warned of strict action against striking employees of State transport undertakings if they did not resume work in one or two days.
“I have appealed to them to come to the negotiating table. I am ready to talk to anyone, anywhere, at any time. But they have rejected our offer. Their strike is only adding to the misery of the common man,’’ he said. He spoke to journalists before leaving for Ramdurga for the campaign of Mangala Angadi, BJP nominee for the Belagavi bypoll.
“We have agreed to eight of the nine demands of the employees. But they are adamantly holding on to the one demand of considering them as government employees and giving them pay commission scales. This is not possible as we are suffering from severe financial constraint. We have told them several times. Despite knowing our conditions, they are acting strange. I will make an offer of talks again. I urge them to stop the protest and come to us for negotiations. If not, we will be forced to take action. Strict action will be taken if they don’t return to work in one or two days,” he said.
He reiterated his claim that Ms. Angadi would be elected by a margin of 2.5 lakh votes. “I am meeting leaders of various communities. They have all pledged support to our candidate,”he added.
