Training his guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP MLC A.H. Vishwanath on Saturday said Mr. Modi should be questioned over the imminent closure of Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant (VISP) in Bhadravati.
Addressing a press conference in Mysuru, Mr. Vishwanath asked the people to question Mr Modi about the fate of the factory when he arrives to inaugurate the Shivamogga airport later this month. “Doesn’t the closure of the factory run against the Prime Minister’s slogan of Make in India?” he asked.
Pointing out that protests were underway against the closure of the factory, which was established by the erstwhile Maharajas of Mysore more than a century ago, the BJP MLC said there was a need to back the protesters.
Even though he belonged to the BJP, Mr. Vishwanath said the imminent closure of the steel factory was a humanitarian issue, affecting the livelihood and employment of people of the State. About 16,000 permanent employees and 21,000 seasonal workers will be thrown to the streets if the factory is closed, the BJP MLC claimed.
After closure of the factory, which also has about 500 residential quarters, Mr.Vishwanath feared that Karnataka’s assets will be given away to buyers from Gujarat.
He called upon Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai also to raise his voice against the closure and wondered why the 25 BJP MPs from Karnataka were not speaking about the grave matter.
Mr. Vishwanath recalled that a similar attempt to close an iron and steel factory in Salem some years ago was successfully thwarted when all the MPs of Tamil Nadu rose in protest. “Why don’t the MPs of Karnataka have the same courage?” he questioned.
He also recalled how former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had rescued the factory in 1989 by handing it over to Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and later by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, who had a ₹650 crore blueprint readied for its revival during his tenure.
He alleged that that the closure of VISP was part of the BJP’s conspiracy against the people of Bhadravati, who had never elected a BJP MLA. Politics can’t stoop to the level of snatching people’s livelihood, he said.
