Visakhapatnam: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy handed over the Blast Furnace-3 in Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) to Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) to privatise the industry, alleged JSP leaders.
Speaking to the media here on Tuesday, JSP corporator P Murthy Yadav said that Jindal’s JSW Group has signed an agreement with the state government to build a steel plant in Kadapa. Jindal’s representatives repeatedly met the Chief Minister and took hold of the VSP in the garb of Kadapa steel plant, where no foundation stone was laid, he said. Murthy Yadav alleged that Blast Furnace-3 was taken control by Jindal with the cooperation of the Chief Minister.
Further, the corporator stated that the CM was acting like an Industries Minister and taking decisions against the interests of the VSP workers, residents of Visakhapatnam and political parties.
If the YSR Congress Party government will extend financial support to the VSP, the JSP leaders opined that the plant would have become profitable by now and compete with the rest of the steel plants without any problems.
Meanwhile, JSP political affairs committee member Kona Tatarao alleged that the state government is playing with the sentiments of the people of North Andhra. He demanded the YSRCP government to mount pressure on the Union government to stop the privatisation of the VSP instead of playing tricks.
Speaking about atrocities against women, the PAC member said that the gang rape of a minor girl in Visakhapatnam reflects the failure of the YSRCP government. Due to lack of any review of the CM’s efforts on law and order and considering it as a non-priority issue, a number of rapes and assaults continue to be witnessed in the state, he alleged.
He lamented that 42 gang rapes have been registered in Visakhapatnam alone and that the police system totally failed under Jagan Reddy’s rule. JSP leaders Gadasala Apparao, PVSN Raju, Naga Lakshmi Chaudhary, Gandham Venkata Rao, P Usha Kiran and B Srinivas Patnaik were present.
