VSP issue: TDP, Jana Sena face heat as Centre remains silent

The closure of two blast furnaces out of three deepens further the crisis in Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and the silence of the BJP-led NDA government on the issue raises doubts over the very survival of the plant. According to sources, the third furnace also may face closure as coal stock will exhaust in a week.

As the TDP and the JSP are the partners of the NDA, trade unions, Left parties and the YSRCP have started targeting the two parties urging them to bring pressure on the Centre to ensure the run of the plant at full capacity.

Fearing the developments may lead to the closure of the Steel Plant, trade unions in Visakhapatnam up their ante and took to the streets again. Various trade unions staged a maha dharna at Gajuwaka urging the alliance government in the State to mount pressure on the Centre to initiate measures for the smooth functioning of the plant.

If the agitation against the plant privatisation for the past 1,300 days was ignored, the government would face serious consequences, CITU district general secretary U. Ramaswamy warned and urged the TDP government in the State to act in tune with the wishes of the people, otherwise, it would lose the faith of the people.

However, TDP leaders are confident of convincing the Centre on the steel plant issue. Telugu Desam State president Palla Srinivasa Rao said he would quit the MLA post if the party failed to protect the plant. Other leaders of the party like Ganta Srinivasa Rao too said they would leave no stone unturned to save the plant.

Visakhapatnam MP M Sribharat, who recently met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, brought the VSP issue to her notice. Later, he said the Union Minister responded positively.

Meanwhile, YSRCP leader and MLC Botcha Satyanarayana has asked the TDP to make its stand clear on the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.

Addressing the media in the city on 16 September, he said the TDP, being a partner of the NDA, can easily convince the Centre. “As the survival of the BJP government at the Centre depends on the support of TDP and Jana Sena, the central government may not say ‘no’ to its allies,” he pointed out.

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This article is written by Senior Journalist Lakkoju Nagesh Babu