BJP & Congress Conspiring To Privatize Singareni: KTR

BRS working president K T Rama Rao has accused both the BJP and the Congress of undermining Singareni by opting to auction the coal mines in Telangana instead of allocating them directly to the Singareni Collieries Company (SCCL).

Speaking during a media conference at Telangana Bhavan, KTR criticized the Congress government of the State for participating in the mine auctions instead of demanding direct allocation to Singareni.

"The union government is auctioning more than 60 mines in the country, including those in Singareni, starting Friday. The State government's participation in the auction contradicts its previous stance of opposing the auction and seeking direct allocation from the Central government to Singareni," KTR said.

He also reminded the public that the present Chief Minister, as the then PCC president, had written a letter to the union government asking for the cancellation of the Singareni mines auction and requesting that they be allocated to Singareni directly.

KTR questioned CM Revanth Reddy's silence now over the Central government's auction of mines in the Singareni area, considering his previous opposition when he was not in power.

KTR said that this same Central government had gotten the Vizag Steel Plant into losses by not allocating dedicated mines, and that his party and government had stalled the auctioning of the coal mines in the Singareni area for the past nine years to safeguard SCCL's future.

With 16 MPs, AP's Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was trying to halt the privatization of the Vizag Steel Plant and safeguarding his State's interests. In contrast, the 16 elected MPs from Telangana, from both the Congress and the BJP, were remaining silent despite the Central government's attempt to harm the State's prospects through the mines auction, KTR said.

KTR demanded that all the MPs and the two union ministers from Telangana should immediately work to get the Singareni mines auction cancelled. He also accused the Central ministers from Telangana of harming the State's interests by remaining silent on the matter.

He accused the BJP-led Central government and the Congress-led State government of conspiring to privatize Singareni in the long run. KTR referred to the past actions of the Central government in allocating mines to Gujarat undertakings like the Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation and allotting lignite mines to public sector undertakings. He asked why Singareni could not receive similar treatment.

KTR accused both the national parties of conspiring to damage the prospects of Telangana since they won the Lok Sabha elections, and there was no voice to safeguard the State. He said that even if companies participated in the auction and got mining rights, the BRS would cancel the leases once it came into power after four and a half years, and promised that the BRS would try to safeguard Singareni and its future by taking direct action against the Central government's move to auction the Singareni mines.