Hyderabad: Assuring all support to the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) unions, the BRS Andhra Pradesh unit demanded that the Centre withdraw plans to privatizse the VSP and allot mines to the plant for sustenance.
AP BRS chief Thota Chandrashekhar along with former Minister Ravella Kishore Babu addressed a VSP Unions protest meeting at Visakhapatnam on Monday.
In a systematic way, the VSP was pushed into losses and plans were being made to hand it over to corporate companies.
The BRS would oppose and fight with the Centre till it withdraws VSP privatization plans, Thota Chandrashekhar said, adding that after taking over the Gangavaram port, the Adani Group had cast its eye on VSP for reaping huge benefits, especially by utilizing the plant’s vast lands.
“If the BJP government is committed to saving PSUs, then Rs.5000 crore should be allotted to VSP through loan or other means. The VSP will return the same with interests,” Chandrashekhar said.
Former Minister R Kishore Babu charged that the ruling YSRCP party and the opposition party Telugu Desam in Andhra Pradesh had turned puppets in the hands of BJP.
At a time when VSP unions and all sections in the State were protesting the BJP government’s evil plans to privatize the steel plant, both the parties had not even raised their voice. They had pledged Andhra Pradesh’s future with the BJP government at the Centre, he said assuring that BRS would fight against the BJP’s crooked plans.
The BJP government was hatching conspiracies to hand over PSUs like VSP to corporate giants and loot the nation’s wealth, he said.
VSP Porata Samithi Chairman Adinarayana welcomed Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s decision to oppose the BJP government’s decision to privatize VSP.
“We thank Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao garu for extending support to VSP unions. Entire Andhra Pradesh is hailing the Chief Minister’s support in protecting Telugu people’s interests” said Adinarayana.