TIRUPATI: The workers employed by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) on contract basis laid siege to the residence of trust board chairman Chadalawada Krishnamurthy here on Tuesday, demanding settlement of their long-pending issues.
Taking out a procession from Sankarambadi Sundarachari circle, workers led by CITU district general secretary Kandharapu Murali reached his Padmavathipuram residence, where they faced a huge contingent of policemen and barricades. After heated arguments and jostling with the police personnel led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (East division) Murali Krishna, the agitators announced that they would leave after staging a peaceful protest in front of Mr. Krishnamurthy’s residence.
The workers staged a sit-in for an hour and shouted slogans against the ‘anti-worker attitude of the TTD’.
CITU State vice-president P. Ajaykumar lambasted the TTD for ‘turning a deaf ear to the genuine problems of the workers’. Recalling Dr. Krishnamurthy espousing the cause of the workers when in the opposition, he wondered why he had taken a U-turn after taking up the post of chairman.
Speaks on the phone
Dr. Krishnamurthy, who was participating in a Janmabhoomi programme along with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at a village in Nellore district, spoke to the agitators over the phone and pacified them. Addressing them in the 'speaker' mode of a smart phone, he said that their pending issues pertaining to wages would be sorted out soon.
The agitators left after issuing a warning that they would besiege the next board meeting if he failed to keep his promise.
Some of the participants came up dressed as Lord Venkateswara and saint poet Annamayya, adding a mythological touch to the agitation, while traditional drummers from Karvetinagaram offered a cultural tinge.
