TDP stages dharna for steel plant at Bayyaram

The Telugu Desam Party on Tuesday organised a massive protest dharna in Bayyaram village in Khammam district, demanding setting up of a steel plant in the region, and opposed diversion of iron ore supplies to steel plants in other places.

Addressing the protesters, the TDP floor leader in Lok Sabha, Nama Nageswara Rao who represents Khammam, alleged that while the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government bestowed the iron ore fields upon his son-in-law Anil, the Kiran Kumar Reddy government decided to lease the mines to Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. He demanded that the Congress government spell out in clear terms its stance on carting away precious minerals from the Telangana region.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had also protested against the allotment of iron ore mines to the PSU situated in another region.A Dismissing the allegations, the State government contended that there was nothing wrong in allotting the mines to a PSU, even as it indicated that it also favoured setting up of a steel plant in Telangana.

The TDP leaders debunked the claim of the Chief Minister that the iron ore available in Bayyaram region was of low quality and said the experts had certified that the ore was of good quality. A Errabelli Dayakar Rao said that if the State government tried to divert the ore, it would face the wrath of Telangana people. He said the TDP would never allow even a shovel of ore to be taken away from Telangana.

Party MLAs Tummala Nageswara Rao, S V Veeraiah, Satyavathi Rathod, Uke Abbaiah and Sitakka also participated in the massive dharna.