VIJAYAWADA: APCC chief YS Sharmila Reddy has accused the TDP, YSRCP and BJP of betraying State’s interests over the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) privatisation and the unresolved YS Vivekananda Reddy murder case.
Sharmila criticised TDP leaders N Chandrababu Naidu, Nara Lokesh and Pawan Kalyan, who were in Visakhapatnam, for ignoring workers’ concerns over 44 Expressions of Interest (EOI) tenders issued for VSP operations. She described it as a step towards privatisation, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of orchestrating a ‘silent killing’ of the plant.
She alleged that the Modi government had crippled VSP by cutting iron ore supplies and denying captive mines, reducing the workforce from 35,000 during her father YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s tenure to 20,000. She further charged that the Centre was eyeing VSP’s Rs 4 lakh crore assets, particularly its land, for corporate interests such as Adani, while dismissing the Rs 11,440 crore aid as a façade to clear bank loans.
Sharmila demanded the withdrawal of the EOI tenders and urged the TDP and Jana Sena to uphold Telugu pride over Modi’s agenda. She also called the YSRCP’s protests against privatisation hypocritical. “What did YSRCP do then? Were they grooming horses?” she asked.
On Vivekananda Reddy’s murder, Sharmila backed her sister Sunitha’s demand for a fresh probe, alleging that Modi was shielding YSRCP leaders YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy by controlling the CBI.