A statement made by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman in Parliament yesterday, on the Centre's decision to privatise Andhra Pradesh's historic Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), has only acted to intensify the
ongoing protests against the decision in the state.
While responding to some questions asked by Visakhapatnam MP M V V Satyanarayana and Araku MP Goddeti Madhavi, she said that the Centre would indeed be disinvesting from the plant, and that the state government had no stakes in it.
The comments left the workers of various trade unions in AP furious, and prompted them to blockade the National Highway at Kurmannapalem. The leaders and activists of the left parties and several civil society organisations in the state also participated in the demonstration. The protestors raised slogans against the decision and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and reportedly burnt copies of the privatisation orders.
Speaking on the occasion, CPM leader V Uma Maheswara Rao, CITU state leaders A V Nageswara Rao, Muzaffar Ahmed and Dhana Laxmi, and several leaders of the AITUC condemned the Union Minister's statement, and claimed that the Centre's handling of the whole matter seemed "dictatorial" and "unjust".
"The BJP-led Centre has not spared a thought for the wellbeing of the VSP's workers. It has behaved in a singularly dictatorial manner. We will definitely intensify our agitation if it does not withdraw its decision. We urge the people of the state to join us in our struggle to save our steel plant," the leaders said.
The union leaders then pointed out that in 2019, Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had assured them that no decision regarding the privatisation of the VSP would be taken without first consulting the workers and employee associations, and that the Centre had not honoured the minister's promise by taking a "unilateral decision" regarding the plant's future.
Many activists also demanded that the state government oppose the move in a more assertive fashion if it did truly care about the VSP's workers.
Targeting the BJP leaders in the state, they questioned the leaders on their silence on the matter. They also lashed out at Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan and asked him why he was not doing more to stop the Centre from "looting" Andhra Pradesh and its people by privatising the steel plant.
Meanwhile, large groups of activists from various trade unions also held protests in Visakhapatnam, and asserted that they would not allow the privatisation of the VSP even if that meant laying down their lives for the cause.
Cries of 'Visakha ukku Andhrula hakku' (Visakha steel is Andhra's right), a slogan popularly used in the 1970s movement fighting for the establishment of the plant, filled the air. The protestors raised slogans against the PM and the Centre as well.
At the plant itself, the VSP workers also staged a demonstration in front of the administrative block. During the demonstration, they prevented VSP finance director Venu Gopal from entering the building. The police and the CISF were then forced to intervene to help Gopal enter the premises safely.
The Centre's decision to privatise the steel plant has been receiving massive backlash from the people of the state. Even the YSR Congress Party regime, headed by Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, has made clear its stance on the issue - that it will
fight to prevent the privatisation.