CPM demands arrest of WFI chief Brij Bhushan Singh

Central government did not seem to be bothered although the wrestlers were protesting in the heart of the nation's capital, said CPM polit bureau member BV Raghavulu

Visakhapatnam: Condemning the failure of the Centre to take action on Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for alleged sexual harassment of wrestlers, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) polit bureau member BV Raghavulu on Sunday demanded the immediate arrest of the BJP MP.

Talking to media persons here, he said the Central government did not seem to be bothered although the wrestlers were protesting in the heart of the nation’s capital. Though some athletes expressed solidarity with the protesters, it was a pity some prominent sports persons remained silent in the matter, he noted, and pointed out that the case was registered against the BJP leader only on a court direction and the Centre did not respond on its own.

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On the Visakhapatnam steel plant issue, Raghavulu said the Centre was adamant and was bent upon reducing the steel plant to bankruptcy to privatise it. Of the 29 bids for buying the steel plant, ten were foreign companies, he observed and wanted to make public the conditions set for them. “We are opposed to privatisation and they are losing the opportunity to secure working capital from SAIL,” he stated.

It was deplorable that the public sector companies were not allotted mines, the CPM leader said, and lamented that Polavaram project was left in the lurch. All political parties in Andhra Pradesh were keen on getting closer to the Modi government and the state BJP president Somu Veerraju, after calling for chargesheeting the YSR Congress Party government, was now heaping praises on the latter, he remarked. “We will join hands with parties who want to defeat the BJP,” he said.