Sharmila extends support to Ukku agitators
Visakhapatnam: Expressing solidarity with Ukku agitators at the relay hunger strike camp, Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief YS sharmila warned the Union government that an indefinite strike would be launched if removed workers were not reinstated at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP).
Expressing solidarity with Ukku agitators who are on a relay hunger strike at Kurmannapalem, the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief YS Sharmila Reddy extended support to VSP workers.
Speaking on the occasion, she mentioned that the Congress party would support the strike scheduled on May 20. Sharmila said that the plant was established during the Congress party's rule and the party will safeguard the plant at any cost.
The BJP government claimed that they were extending financial support to the RINL by providing financial aid of Rs.11,000 crore, the APCC chief said, adding that the Union government announced a special package on one hand and cleared bank loans on the other.
Further, Sharmila mentioned that opposing the decision to privatise the VSP, the trade unions are staging protests from January 2021. She congratulated the union leaders and workers for continuing the hunger strike with determination despite the obstacles they came across. The APCC chief recalled that the VSP had a bright future under the Congress regime till 2014. However, the plant incurred losses during the BJP's rule. The BJP government conspired to kill the plant to benefit the Adani Group, she alleged. Sharmila alleged that there is a conspiracy to hand over the assets of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant worth Rs.4 lakh crore to Adani at a throw away price.
She pointed out that the process of laying off workers has been going on for the last six months and that there were 34,000 employees in the plant in the Congress regime.
The employees have been laid off without any reason in these 11 years, she expressed concern. 'BJP ministers say that there is no privatization of the VSP, but higher officials of the Central government say there is no change in the privatisation decision. They say that the decision taken in 2021 will continue, which of these announcements are true?' questioned the APCC chief.
The APCC chief objected that the workers did not get a single rupee of the Rs.11,000 crore financial assistance given to the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant by the Centre.
She demanded that the 2,000 people who were laid off at the steel plant should be immediately reinstated, the steel plant should be allocated its own mines, and be merged with SAIL to overcome losses.
Along with the Ukku agitators, Sharmila participated in the relay hunger strike for six hours in Visakhapatnam.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
28 minutes ago
- Time of India
Vijay Mallya relates how he told Arun Jaitley he was flying to the UK before he left India
TOI correspondent from London: Fugitive liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya has told a podcast, in a rare interview, that he told the late former finance minister Arun Jaitley that he was about to fly out of India to London before he left for the airport in March 2016. At the time there was supposed to be a CBI lookout circular (LOC) issued against him. Mallya told 'Figuring Out with Raj Shamani' he was not aware of any LOC against him, nor that it had been downgraded by the CBI from detaining him to informing immigration of authorities of his travel plans. He told Shamani that certain TV anchors and the Indian govt want to see him in 'jail clothes, eating jail food' in Tihar and spending the rest of his life behind bars. 'If that is what is inevitable, what options do I have? It might be inevitable, I'm not an astrologer. I will fight my way in court.' He said: 'I told FM Arun Jaitley before leaving for the airport and then I flew from Delhi to London on the way to Geneva for a meeting which was fixed months ago. I told the then finance minister because I went from Parliament to Delhi airport. When this news hit the media, once again, it created a storm. People went running to Mr Jaitley. He denied meeting me. A Congress MP saw us and then said to the media 'No, I saw them together'. Mr Jaitley had to retract his statement and say 'Yes, yes I met him but only while walking — it was a fleeting meeting'.' 'I never said I went to Mr Jaitley's office, sat in front of him, had tea with him. All I said is I told the finance minister while leaving, I'm going to London and going to Geneva for a meeting, please tell the banks to sit across the table and settle with me. How long does this once sentencetake? You see the way he denied it, and then when a Congress MP pointed out his mistake that he saw us, he quickly changed.' He also said he had always planned to go back to India but his Indian passport was revoked. In the four-hour podcast Mallya also said he would be prepared to return to India. 'If I have the assurance of a fair trial and assurance of dignified existence in India, I will think about returning to India seriously. ' He then reminded Shamani of the judgment in the Sanjay Bhandari case which found 'Indian detention conditions a violation of Article 3 of the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights)', which may mean he could not be extradited now. When asked why he had not gone already as he had lost his extradition battle in the courts, the 69-year-old said: 'My stay in England is fully legitimate. There is more than the particular case you are referring to. There are ongoing proceedings in this country. It's one of the legal battles I am fighting,' he said. This suggests he may have applied for asylum.
Time of India
28 minutes ago
- Time of India
Kashmir to Kanyakumari no longer just a slogan: LG Sinha
JAMMU: J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha lavished praise on PM Narendra Modi Friday for making the 'Kashmir-to-Kanyakumari slogan' a reality and carrying forward what he said was 'a socio-economic revolution in J&K' since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. 'He has connected the hearts of millions of Indians, forging an unbreakable bond from north to south,' Sinha said in Katra after PM Modi inaugurated the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link and flagged off the Valley's first Vande Bharat Express service. The LG said the world's tallest railway bridge, built over the Chenab, and Anji rail bridge were representative of this progress. 'The skills of our engineers to build the Chenab and Anji bridges, and the toil of our workers who carved a rail route through the mountains have eliminated the gaps that existed between India's crown jewel and the rest of the country.' Sinha pointed out that since April 2022, the PM had commissioned or inaugurated Rs 1.15 lakh crore worth of projects for J&K.
Time of India
28 minutes ago
- Time of India
Another top Maoist with 45L bounty killed in encounter
Raipur: In yet another big blow to the Left Wing Extremism (LWE), another senior Maoist rank cadre — Bhaskar, who carried Rs 45 lakh bounty — was neutralized on Friday in an encounter that broke out in the same area where Maoists central committee member Sudhakar alias Tentu Lakshmi Narasimha Chalam was gunned down on Thursday in the forests of Bijapur. The encounter was part of the same anti-Maoist operation underway since Wednesday being carried out by personnel from the state police's Special Task Force (STF), District Reserve Guard (DRG) and CoBRA. Intermittent firing between security forces and the Maoist ultras took place the whole day and after the guns fell silent, security forces recovered the body of 45-year-old Maoist Bhaskar, who carried a bounty of Rs 25 lakh in Chhattisgarh and Rs 20 lakh in Telangana. Bhaskar was a Special Zonal Committee member of Telangana State Committee and was reportedly operating in the dense forests of Indravati National Park — a known Maoist stronghold. Three days ago, TOI had reported that security forces in Bastar have precise information on the locations of nine top Maoist commanders in Bastar division, and an operation to eliminate them is imminent unless they surrender. Speaking to TOI, Bastar range inspector general of police P Sundarraj said, "As part of the ongoing anti-Naxal operation in the National Park area of Bijapur district, security forces have recovered the dead body of another male cadre. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Air conditioners without external unit. (click to see prices) Air Condition | Search Ads Search Now Undo Preliminary identification indicates that the recovered body is that of Bhaskar alias Mailarapu Adellu, a member of the Telangana State Committee." IG stated that an AK-47 rifle along with other explosives, weapons, and ammunition have been recovered from the encounter site. "Bhaskar, a resident of Adilabad district in Telangana, was the Secretary of the Mancherial-Komarambheem (MKB) division of the CPI (Maoist) outfit," the IG further said. In the same operation on June 5, security forces had recovered the body of Central Committee member Gautam alias Sudhakar along with an AK-47 rifle. The search operation in the area is still ongoing to trace other Maoist cadres in the nearby area. Detailed information regarding other Maoist casualties and recoveries will be shared after the operation concludes and full confirmation is received. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Eid wishes , messages , and quotes !
