Protests, educational institutions’ bandh mark 1,000th day of relay hunger strikes for protection of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant

Leaders and activists of Left parties, CITU and AITUC staging a protest near the Gurajada statue in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: V. RAJU

The educational institutions’ bandh and protests, organised under the aegis of Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee (VUPPC) and Praja Sanghala JAC, for protection of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) was peaceful, with no untoward incidents reported from anywhere in the city, on Wednesday.

While some colleges declared a holiday in advance, in anticipation of trouble, others opened them as police protection was provided. Later, the students were sent out through the backdoor, and the colleges were closed. RTC buses, autorickshaws plied as usual, and most of the shops were opened, except for a few, which downed their shutters.

The relay hunger strikes, being organised under the aegis of the VUPPC, continued for the 1,000th day at the Steel Plant gate at Kurmannapalem, on Wednesday.

Leaders of various political parties and former Vice-Chancellors of various Universities in the State visited the hunger strike camp and expressed their solidarity with the agitating steel workers.

VUPPC chairmen D. Adinarayana, Ch. Narasinga Rao and Mantri Rajasekhar presided.

Gajuwaka MLA Tippala Nagi Reddy underlined the need to protect VSP from going into private hands. Former Ministers Ganta Srinivasa Rao and Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy said that VSP was the only shore-based steel plant in the country.

Former MLAs Palla Srinivasa Rao, T. Gurumurthy Reddy and Chintalapudi Venkataramaiah, MLC P. Raghu Varma, Jana Sena Party Gajuwaka convener Kona Tata Rao, P. Rakesh Reddy of Congress Party, Praja Santhi Party president K.A. Paul, former V-C V. Bala Mohan Das, senior journalist V.V. Ramana Murthy, Jana Sena trade union leaders K.S.N. Rao, K. Ramana, J. Ayodhya Ram, Y.T. Das, J. Ramakrishna and Varasala Srinivasa Rao demanded that the Centre revoke its decision on privatisation of VSP. The trade union leaders said that they would continue the agitation till the Centre withdrew its decision.

Leaders and activists of the Left parties, CITU and AITUC formed a human chain, at the Gurajada statue, near RTC Complex, and staged a protest for about an hour.

CITU district committee secretary R.K.S.V. Kumar presided.

CPI leader Marupalli Pydiraju, CPI(M) leader B. Ganga Rao and other speakers decried the Union government’s adamant attitude on its decision to go for ‘strategic sale’ of VSP, and to hand over the public sector Visakhapatnam Steel Plant to corporate groups.

They recalled that the steel plant was set up following long drawn struggles and 32 precious lives being lost in the police firing. They sought that the YSRCP government, which wants to make the city as executive capital of Andhra Pradesh, should pressurise the Centre to withdraw its decision on privatisation of VSP.

They also criticised Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu for trying to rub shoulders with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, instead of opposing the decision on ‘sale of VSP’. Similarly, they ridiculed Jana Sena Party (JSP) president Pawan Kalyan’s eagerness to forge an alliance between the BJP and the TDP, while failing to make any attempt to use his rapport with the Prime Minister to make him revoke his decision on VSP.

CPI (ML) Praja Poru leader Deva, AICTU leader Venkatalakshmi, AIDWA leader Lakshmi, NFIW leaders B. Padma, Demudamma, Varalakshmi, P. Kumari, Mani, Mahila Samakhya leaders Vanajakshi and Begum, CPI(M) and CPI leaders B. Jagan, B. Eswaramma, M. Subba Rao, Kshetrapal, Chandrasekhar and Rahaman, and CITU and AITUC leaders were among those who participated.