The people of Visakhapatnam in general and those from the industrial belt of Gajuwaka in particular, who eagerly awaited the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his public meeting in Anakapalli on May 6, were disappointed as he conveniently skirted the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) privatisation issue.
The steel plant is located in the Gajuwaka Assembly segment in Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constituency. This Assembly segment alone has 3,27,438 voters, the second highest in the State after Bheemunipatnam, which has 3,56,481 electors. A vast majority of the workers and executives of VSP, and their families live in Ukkunagaram, Gajuwaka and adjoining areas. Interestingly, this is the only Assembly segment in Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat where male voters outnumber their female counterparts.
For over three years, the decision taken by the Modi government on the “strategic sale of VSP”, has caused considerable disquiet not only among steel plant employees but also all sections of people. The employees launched an indefinite relay hunger strike at Kurmannapalem, and subsequently a relay hunger strike was launched by civil society organisations at the Gandhi statue in the city, demanding revocation of the decision.
The employees are still taking turns to continue the hunger strike even as they attend to their duties to prevent disruption of work, which would cause losses to the plant. They had persisted with the strike even when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak, taking adequate precautions like wearing masks. It’s a different matter that some of the workers succumbed to the virus.
These unfortunate events failed to move the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, which stuck to its guns on VSP privatisation. While the ruling YSRCP government and the Opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Jana Sena Party (JSP) extended support to the strike, they have failed to openly oppose the decision of the Modi government.
On the other hand, the Left parties, Congress and other Opposition parties have openly criticised the Centre over the decision. The Centre has tried all the means at its disposal to go ahead with its decision and appointed various committees for the purpose. However, striking workers put up stiff resistance and prevented the members of the committees from entering the plant premises.
As the time for the elections began approaching, BJP leaders in the State started issuing statements that the privatisation of VSP has been put on the back burner. But these statements have not been acknowledged either by Mr. Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Left and Congress leaders have been asking the workers not to believe the statements of the BJP leaders. The silence of the Prime Minister on the VSP issue lends credence to their words.
The VSP issue has grabbed national attention and no party can afford to ignore it. The Centre’s decision on VSP and its silence even now, are bound to have a huge impact on the prospects of not only the BJP but its alliance partners in A.P., the TDP and JSP, mainly in Gajuwaka Assembly segment.
It may also impact the prospects of the ruling YSRCP as it was content with adopting a resolution in the State Assembly while Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote a letter to Mr. Modi seeking reversal of its decision and suggesting alternatives to privatisation.
Mr. Reddy’s statement at a public meeting at Gajuwaka on May 7 that he was responsible for preventing privatisation of VSP so far is being seen as a firefighting exercise.
Ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit to Anakapalli, Minister for Industries and Information Technology Gudivada Amarnath, who is the YSRCP nominee from Gajuwaka, offered to withdraw from the fray to pave the way for the victory of NDA candidate Palla Srinivasa Rao (TDP), if Mr. Modi announces the decision to scrap the privatisation proposal of VSP.
The Opposition leaders, however, dismiss Mr. Amarnath’s statement as an attempt to score brownie points ahead of the elections. They are also critical of the YSRCP government’s failure to protect the State government’s stake in the privately owned Gangavaram Port, which was acquired by the Adani Group.
Communist Party Of India (Marxist) nominee M. Jaggunaidu, who is supported by the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), has been participating in the strike from the beginning, and is expected to give a tough fight to the major contenders.
VSP was established following innumerable sacrifices made by the people of combined Andhra Pradesh and Visakhapatnam region and is an emotive issue for the Andhraites.
“A total of 32 persons lost their lives in the struggle. Farmers of 62 villages gave up 22,000 acres of fertile land for setting up of the plant,” says Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) State president Ch. Narasinga Rao, who had participated in the agitation for the establishment of the steel plant as a student of Andhra University then.
The steel plant management had issued R-cards (rehabilitation cards) to 16,000 eligible displaced persons. But, only 8,000 displaced persons had been employed by the plant till Dec, 2023.
