CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury has called upon people to defeat the BJP in the 2024 elections, if it fails to revoke its decision on the strategic sale of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), and think of alternative plans to put the plant on the road to recovery and profits.
Addressing a public meeting at Kurmannapalem, here on Thursday evening, Mr. Yechury alleged that the Modi government had written off loans to the tune of ₹16 lakh crore taken by “private investors and allowed them to escape abroad”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was against waiving off the loans taken by VSP, and allocating mines to the plant as such a step would put the plant back on road to profits and prevent its sale. This makes it evident that the sale was meant to benefit the corporate groups.
He recalled the prolonged struggle by farmers, which had forced Mr. Modi to revoke the decision on farm laws. He advised the VSP workers to continue their 966-day agitation till the BJP government revoked its decision. He assured the workers that the CPI(M) would not only stand with them till the end but also rope in the support of the INDIA alliance to make the Centre revoke its decision.
Mr. Yechury recalled the struggles by the CPI(M), when proposals for the privatisation of the public sector BHPV came up during the UPA regime in the past. “We had suggested the merger of BHPV with the public sector BHEL, and they did it. Now, both the PSUs have benefited from the merger. Similarly, we had suggested takeover of the public sector Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) by the Defence sector.”
Terming people as the ‘owners’ of PSUs, Mr. Yechury said the governments were only empowered to act as ‘managers’ but have no right to sell them. He said: “If they sell PSUs, the people can defeat them in elections.” He alleged that the BJP government was mortgaging the interests of the nation to capitalists. For the first time after Independence, unemployment was at its peak and prices of essential commodities were skyrocketing, he said.
The BJP government had spent ₹4,100 crore for the campaign on promoting the G-20 meeting in Delhi alone. These included erection of 800 billboards with a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
CPI(M) State secretary V. Srinivasa Rao wondered how Mr. Modi, who couldn’t run a steel plant, rule the nation. He also made a dig at the ruling YSRCP, Opposition TDP and the JSP for failing to pull up the Centre on the VSP issue.
