Industries Minister Gudivada Amarnath has asked Jana Sena Party (JSP) president Pawan Kalyan to stop privatisation of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), if he is so capable of it, using his “close association” with the Union government.
Recalling Mr. Pawan Kalyan’s reported remarks in the city on Thursday that he would impress upon the Centre to “dethrone the YSRCP government in Andhra Pradesh,” Mr. Amarnath, while addressing the media here on August 11 (Friday), said, “If he has such capabilities, why didn’t he try to stop privatisation of the steel plant?”
“Mr. Pawan Kalyan is an actor and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is a public leader. There is no comparison between them. It is ridiculous on the part of the JSP leader to make such claims. Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy has led by example. He had the guts to revolt against the formidable Congress leader Sonia Gandhi when he was barely 35 years of age,” the Minister said.
“A person who sets up a political party usually thinks of the policies to be framed and chalks out plans to come to power. But it is different in the case of the JSP and its founder. Mr. Pawan Kalyan is trying to become famous by criticising Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who has faced many ups and downs in his political life and gained recognition as a successful politician by winning 151 seats without any alliance,” the Minister said.
“Mr. Pawan Kalyan has not revealed his party’s policies despite 15 years of experience in politics. He does not have a political identity of his own,” Mr. Amarnath said.
The JSP chief had associated with different political parties earlier, the Minister said, and alleged that “Mr. Pawan Kalyan works to further the cause of TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu.”
Land scam
Referring to Mr. Pawan Kalyan’s remarks on the land scams allegedly involving YSR Congress Party leaders in Visakhapatnam, the Minister questioned why was the JSP leader silent when TDP leader Ch. Ayanna Patradu had raised the issue and pointed the finger of blame at another party leader and why didn’t he speak about the land scam in which the TDP leader who had contested for the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat in 2019 was involved.
