Former Andhra Pradesh minister and senior Telugu Desam Party legislator Ganta Srinivasa Rao on Saturday resigned from his assembly membership in protest against the Centre’s decision to privatise the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), better known as Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.
Rao sent his hand-written resignation letter to state assembly speaker Tammineni Sitaram in the afternoon. Stating that he was tendering his resignation from the MLA’s post as a protest against the privatisation of RINL, he requested the speaker to accept it immediately.
On Wednesday, the secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted that the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA), in its meeting on January 27, had cleared 100 per cent strategic disinvestment in RINL by completely privatising it.
Within hours, Rao, who represents Visakhapatnam (north) assembly constituency, reacted strongly on the social media platform, opposing the privatisation of Vizag Steel, which has sentimental value for the four crore Telugu people.
He announced that he would soon form a non-political joint action committee to launch a massive agitation demanding that the Centre revoke its decision to privatise the steel plant.
Stating that he would fight tooth and nail to see that the steel plant did not go into the hands of private parties, the TDP leader demanded that all the MLAs and MPs of the state, cutting across the party lines, also resign from their posts to fight for the steel plant.
{{/usCountry}}Stating that he would fight tooth and nail to see that the steel plant did not go into the hands of private parties, the TDP leader demanded that all the MLAs and MPs of the state, cutting across the party lines, also resign from their posts to fight for the steel plant.
{{/usCountry}}TDP president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said it was the responsibility of chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to save the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. He accused the chief minister of sealing the mouths of his party MPs to prevent them from speaking against the privatisation of steel plant.
Naidu recalled that Visakhapatnam Steel Plant was established after a prolonged battle by the Telugus. “Over 30 people laid down their lives for this cause. Amaravati resident Amrita Rao's fast-unto-death had eventually won the steel plant back for AP in that landmark agitation. Lakhs of AP people had taken part in the steel plant agitation for several years,” he said.
Terming Visakha Steel as an everlasting right of Andhras, the TDP leader suspected that Jagan Reddy may be trying to take over the steel plant through backdoor means at a cheaper rate.
Union minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur, talking to the media in Hyderabad, defended the Centre’s decision to privatise the Vizag Steel Plant. “The decision was taken on the recommendations of NITI-Aayog. The government won’t disinvest in every public sector undertaking, but only in loss-making PSUs,” he said.