Tainted Ministers should quit, says Narayana

Demands steel plant at Bayyaram

Tirupati: CPI State secretary Dr K Narayana demanded Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to remove all the tainted ministers from the Cabinet to prove his commitment in fighting against corruption. The tainted ministers should set an example by resigning to their posts, he suggested.

He arrived at Tirupati to attend the district-level conference of the CPI on Friday. While speaking to the media, he said, "With the inclusion of ministers in the CBI charge sheet, they should be treated as the accused and should quit the Cabinet on moral grounds. Unfortunately, the Chief Minister was defending the Ministers and not taking action against them."

Narayana welcomed the decision of State government for cancelling the earlier GOs issued on Bayyaram mines in Khammam district and Brahmani steels in Kadapa district. He suggested to the government to take back all the lands allocated to Brahmani Steels and to confiscate amount from mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy who mortgaged the allocated lands to a bank.

He also clarified that steel plant should be established at Bayyaram instead of shifting the raw material to Vizag Steel Plant. He also explained that the Obulapuram mines can be linked to VSP. The people of Bayyaram are demanding the steel plant in Khamma district since a long time and it is certainly essential, he opined.

He criticised PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana for stating the quality of iron ore in Bayyaram as low grade and explained that the then Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy was very brilliant and allocated more than 1.40 lakh hectares of forest land to his son-in-law Bro. Anil Kumar in Bayyaram only after knowing the quality of iron ore.

On the danger of another FSA (Fuel Surcharge Adjustment) from APERC, he said that as the court stayed the implementation of FSA earlier the APERC (AP Electricity Regulatory Commission) coming with another FSA, which is unbearable to the people, he said. Despite opposition from the political parties, the officials of APERC were going ahead and hiking the charges and levying FSAs, he said.

On power crisis, he said, "Instead of encouraging the APGenco, the State government was depending more and more on purchase of power from the private companies and increasing power cut timings across the State, which is unfortunate. He faulted the proposal of inviting private companies for solar energy rather than strengthening the APGenco.