VISAKHAPATNAM: Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president YS Sharmila Reddy took part in a hunger strike on Tuesday in support of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) workers, whose protest against privatisation has entered the 1,545th day. The Congress has extended its full support to the workers’ proposed strike on May 20.
Addressing workers and supporters at the protest site, Sharmila announced that she would launch an indefinite hunger strike from May 21 if the demands of the VSP workers were not met. She urged the Centre to reinstate 2,000 contract workers who were recently terminated, and abandon any plans to lay off an additional 3,000 employees.
Shr alleged that the BJP-led NDA government was deliberately weakening the steel plant to facilitate its handover to private entities, particularly Adani Group. “The plant, which once employed 34,000 people under the Congress rule, now has only 20,000 workers. Over the past six months, the process of retrenchment has intensified, with 1,500 workers recently removed,” she said.