TDP North Andhra in-charge Buddha Venkanna has alleged that the YSRCP leaders are trying to mislead the employees of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) and the people by feigning ignorance on the Centre’s decision to privatise the steel plant.
Addressing the media here on Thursday, Mr. Venkanna referred to Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s reply on the Floor of Parliament that POSCO and Hyundai had evinced interest in setting up a greenfield steel plant on the premises of RINL-VSP. The Union Minister had also said that an MoU was signed in October 2019 between RINL and POSCO.
Alleging that the deal had happened right under the nose of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Rajya Sabha member V. Vijaya Sai Reddy, the TDP leader said the YSRCP leaders were interested in real estate business in Visakhapatnam.
Referring to the statement of Mr. Vijaya Sai Reddy, during the agitation for VSP, that the State government would buy the steel plant, if needed, Mr. Venkanna alleged that the YSRCP general secretary was eyeing the invaluable land.
The TDP leader said that if the Chief Minister was committed to the cause of saving the VSP, he should write a letter to the Centre that all the YSRCP MPs would quit if the Modi government did not drop the proposal. He opined that TDP MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao’s resignation alone was not of much use.
The TDP leader recalled that the TDP MPs had met the then Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and prevented the VSP from being referred to the BIFR when N. Chandrababu Naidu was the Chief Minister.
