ANANTAPUR/NELLORE: Minister for Municipal Administration Botcha Satyanarayana has said the Opposition parties are deliberately maligning the image of the YSRC government over the privatisation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) issue. He reiterated that ‘Vizag Steel is the right of Andhraites’, and the government has already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider the disinvestment of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL).
Speaking to the media in Anantapur on Sunday, Botcha said it was during the term of then chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu that the decision was taken to privatise VSP. Reminding that TDP senior leader P Ashoka Gajapathiraju was a Union minister in 2015, he said Chandrababu Naidu remained silent at the time and is now trying to blame the YSRC government, he said.
Noting that the plant has no captive mines, the minister said it will come out of the red if one is allocated to it. “Converting the loans under equity can offset its losses.” He affirmed that the government is of the view that rescheduling loans with low interests will save VSP from losses, and suggested the same to the Centre. “Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is very clear that Vizag Steel should not be privatised under any circumstances, and thus appealed to the Prime Minister to reconsider the decision,’’ he said.
With regard to the panchayat polls, the minister said the state government is cooperating with the SEC for its smooth conduct. He said State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar should rethink on withholding unanimous elections in Chittoor and Guntur districts, and encourage no-poll practice for the development of villages.
He welcomed the High Court’s decision of ruling out the SEC orders on confining Panchayat Raj Minister to his residence. He said the YSRC cadre is very much confident that 90 per cent of the sarpanch seats will be won by party-backed candidates.
In Nellore, AP Assembly Privileges Committee chairman Kakani Govardhan Reddy alleged that law and order issues have arose after the controversial decisions of Ramesh Kumar. “Ramesh Kumar has to pay for this. The issue has reached the committee. He has to take responsibility for the mistakes he committed.”
‘Bar TDP from contesting any polls’
Alleging that the SEC’s actions on the release of panchayat poll manifesto by the TDP are not stringent, Botcha said the recognition of TDP should be immediately cancelled and the party should not be allowed to contest in any polls in future.