Ready for any agitation to save Vizag Steel Plant

Vijayanagaram: Botcha Satyanarayan, leader of opposition in legislative council has made it clear that his party is prepared to launch any form of agitation to protect the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant from privatization. He announced that an action plan for the movement will soon be revealed.

Addressing the media in Vizianagaram on Wednesday, Botcha said the Visakha Steel Plant was achieved with the slogan “Visakha Ukku–Andhrula Hakku” (Vizag Steel is Andhra’s Right) and that it should never be privatized. He questioned why the government was remaining silent while 32 departments of the steel plant were being privatised one after another.

He dismissed allegations that the YSRCP was adopting a dual stand on the issue, reiterating that protecting the plant was a firm party policy. He also recalled that former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had said during the 2024 elections in Gajuwaka that voting for the coalition candidate would mean giving a green signal for privatisation.

Botcha demanded that CM Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, central ministers, local MLAs, and ruling party leaders explain why their pre-election assurances on saving the plant had been abandoned. He pointed out that when a Rs 14,000 crore package was announced earlier, it was linked to privatisation, calling it a betrayal. Botsa questioned why Chandrababu, despite making 16 visits to Delhi during his 14 months in office, never spoke up for the plant.

Slamming the coalition government, Botcha said that instead of addressing these failures, ruling leaders were spreading false propaganda against the YSRCP. He warned that if the government talks of action against those questioning privatization and unfulfilled promises, then action should first be taken against the CM, ministers, and ruling MLAs themselves.

He alleged that governance in the state had completely collapsed, with law and order deteriorating under coalition rule. In just 14 months, he said, crimes against women, child kidnappings, drug mafia activities in Vizag, and daylight atrocities had all increased. Comparing this period with the previous five years of YSRCP rule, Botsa claimed crime rates had worsened significantly under the coalition.