KADAPA: The hunger strike of Telugu Desam Rajya Sabha member CM Ramesh demanding that the Centre set up a steel plant in Kadapa district entered fourth day on Saturday. Doctors who examined him and TDP MLC BTech Ravi, who has also been observing fast, said their blood sugar levels are falling down. “If he (Ramesh) continues fast, the functioning of his kidneys may be affected,” the doctors told reporters.
Against the advice of the doctors, Ramesh decided to continue his fast and told reporters that he would continue his fast till the steel plant is approved to Kadapa district. “It is one of the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act. If I fail to achieve the steel plant, there is no meaning in me being an MP from Kadapa district,” he said. Ramesh reiterated that steel plant is a must for ensuring employment to youth in the district. He also wrote an open letter to people of the State, in which he explained the purpose of his indefinite fast.
He said even when Mecon committee, which studied the feasibility of the steel plant in Kadapa, has given a positive report to the Central government, the latter claimed that the project was not feasible. “It reflects the vindictive attitude of the BJP-led NDA government,” he said. Ministers Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy, Pithani Satyanarayana, K Atchannaidu and Kala Venkata Rao, MLCs Budda Venkanna, Shamanthakamani, P Ramasubba Reddy and others extended their solidarity to Ramesh on Saturday.
Speaking on the occasion, Kala Venkata Rao said that as per the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 provisions, the Centre has to establish a steel factory in Kadapa and railway zone in Visakhapatnam, but the Centre is dragging its feet in the name of surveys. Taking a dig at Leader of Opposition YS Jaganmohan Reddy, Chandramohan Reddy said though Kadapa had given its mandate to him, he failed to keep people’s trust. The YSRC chief has not spoken a single word against the BJP, which has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that steel plant in Kadapa is not viable,” he said.