Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Y.S. Sharmila, on Sunday, October 6, urged Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to get an assurance from the Modi government at the Centre during his visit to Delhi that it would not privatise the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.
Through her post on X, Ms. Sharmila reminded Mr. Naidu of his letter addressed to the office-bearers of the Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee in July 2021, in which he pledged his party’s full support for their protest against the privatisation move and said that if the need arose, he and his party would tender their resignations en masse.
She wanted Mr. Naidu to express his demand to the Modi-Shah duo without mincing words. If the Centre failed to heed his plea, the TDP chief should walk out of the NDA coalition. She said Mr. Naidu should decide what was more important for him: the rights of the people of Andhra Pradesh or an alliance with the NDA government at the Centre.
Ms. Sharmila demanded that Mr. Naidu secure an official announcement by the Centre for merger of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant into SAIL, regularisation of services of the 14,000 workers in the plant, employment for 8,000 people who had lost their lands and a promise that not even one acre from the total 23,000 acres of land would be sold, as a Vijayadashami gift to the workers.
She also tagged the letter Mr. Naidu wrote addressing the convenor of the Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee. “It is imperative that the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has to join, support and lead the struggle from the front. Let me reiterate that the elected representatives of TDP are ready to resign for the cause of Visakha Steel. Only our collective and united struggle will save the steel plant from privatisation,” the letter said.
Published - October 06, 2024 08:30 pm IST
