CPI(M) Polit Bureau member B.V. Raghavulu has said that only a united stir by the people and all political parties can save the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), which was achieved after relentless struggles. The agitation has to be intensified now as bidding for the VSP has not yet been done, he said.
The history of VSP is synonymous with that of Andhra Pradesh, which was formed in 1956. Though the agitation for the VSP was held in 1966, the demand for its establishment in Visakhapatnam was there much earlier, Mr. Raghavulu told a media conference here on Sunday.
Ridiculing the reason being given by the Centre for privatisation of the VSP, he alleged that the Union government wants to sell ‘ukku’ (steel plant) for ‘tukku’ (scrap) in the name of losses as it wants to hand over VSP land (22,000 acres) to its cronies. The VSP could make profits in a short time, once the pandemic situation improved and there was a little help from the government, Mr. Raghavulu said.
He said the…