Communist Party of India(CPI) State Secretary K. Ramakrishna on Saturday called for a massive movement cutting across partylines to press their demand for retaining the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in the public sector and early grounding of the Kadapa Steel Plant.
Leading a ‘Jan Andolan Padayatra’ from the RTC Bus stand centre to the Kanagamahal centre here on Saturday to drum up support for ‘Bharat Bandh’ on September 27, he lamented that residuary State of Andhra Pradesh had been meted out a raw deal by the Centre.
The Narendra Modi government reneged on major promises made at the time of the bifurcation of the undivided Andhra Pradesh, including Special Category Status and a public sector steel plant at Kadapa.
As if that was not enough, the Centre was bent upon privatising the only major public sector unit(VSP) in the State which was achieved after a long-drawn struggle during which 32 people had sacrificed their lives, he said, adding that it was time all parties waged a protracted struggle as the self-esteem of Andhra people was now at stake.
The BJP-led government at the Centre had no moral right to monetise ₹6 trillion worth of the assets of public sector units(PSUs) built over decades with workers toil, he maintained.
Making matters worse for the common people, the ruling YSR Congress Party in the State was not only toeing the saffron party’s line in the Parliament but also competing with it to impose a heavy dose of taxes on fuel in the State resulting in all essential commodities going out of the reach of the people.
He said the electricity true up charges had come as a rude shock to the people. The YSRCP government should allocate necessary funds from the State Budget to the power distribution companies, he added.
He condemned YSRCP MLA Jogi Ramesh’s march to the residence of Telugu Desam Party supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu to stage a protest leading to a clash with TDP workers. At the same time, he asked TDP leader Ayyana Patrudu not to make personal accusations against the Chief Minister and other YSRCP leaders. It would be better if the TDP men restricted themselves to criticising the government’s policies, he said.
