A Uttarandhra bike rally to save Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) is being organised by the CPI(M) to oppose the decision of the Modi government to go for strategic sale of VSP. The rally will begin near Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) on September 20 and conclude at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant at Kurmannpalem on September 29.
A poster for the bike rally was released at the CITU Office by CPI(M) State secretariat member K. Lokanadham and party’s Visakhapatnam district secretary M. Jaggunaidu and his Srikakulam counterpart D. Govinda Rao at Jagadamba Junction on September 14.
The 1,200 bike yatra will commence at the Gandhi statue in the city at 10 a.m. and cover the six districts of north Andhra before reaching the relay hunger strike camp being organised by Steel workers at the Steel Plant gate at Kurmannapalem, on September 29. The bike rally would conclude in a public meeting.
CPI-M State secretary V. Srinivasa Rao would participate in the flagging off of the rally. The objective of the rally was to send a strong signal through the people of the region that the Centre would have to pay a heavy price, if it does not repeal its decision on VSP.
Mr. Lokanadham appealed to the people to participate in the campaign in large numbers to prevent the only public sector heavy industry in Andhra Pradesh from the threat of privatisation. He said that the future of the State could be protected only with the continuation of public sector heavy industries. “It was unfortunate that the ruling YSRCP government, the Opposition TDP and Jana Sena Party (JSP) were failing to pull up the Centre on the issue. While the ruling party, had washed its hands off the issue after passing resolutions against privatisation in the Assembly, the Opposition TDP and the JSP president were silent on the issue,” he alleged.
The CPI-M leader alleged that the Modi government was trying to “push VSP into losses by reducing production, stopping blast furnace-3 and not filling up of vacant posts. The Centre was not allotting captive mines to VSP, while the same were allotted private steel plants in the country. He alleged that 1,400 acres of VSP land was already given away to Gangavaram Port and now efforts were being made to handover some more land to the Gangavaram Port.
A parallel rally would also be organised from September 21 to 26 to cover the areas in Visakhapatnam Parliament constituency.
