Atchannaidu, the President of the Andhra Pradesh unit of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) demanded the resignation of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (A.P.)
On the 9th of March, Mr. Atchannaidu said as Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy failed to stop the privatisation of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP,) hence, he should tender his resignation as the State CM. He asked the CM to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union ministers, taking action to prevent them from the disinvestment process in the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) also known as the VSP.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) left no stone unturned to criticise the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) for the VSP issue.
Mr. Atchannaidu even flayed 28 YSRCP Members of Parliament (MPs) and 151 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) for not showing efforts in the matter.
Mr. Atchannaidu also took a dig at the YSRCP and its President Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Mr. Atchannaidu addressed the media and said, “South Korean major (Pohang Iron and Steel Company Limited) POSCO had met Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy 20 days after he took over as the Chief Minister in 2019. A decision had been taken on the VSP’s divestment by then. But (sic) the YSRCP kept it under wraps. Now, the Chief Minister and his party leaders are putting up a show to misguide the people.” He further added, “However, the Chief Minister did not speak a word on the issue. It is evident that he is scared of the Prime Minister and the BJP. He is ready for any bargain including the sale of the VSP to get the cases against him settled.”
Mr. Atchannaidu also asked all 28 YSRCP MPs and 151 MLAs to quit and protest against the Central Government’s VSP privatisation decision. He said, “If all the MPs quit, we promise not to contest with the YSRCP in the MP election.”
The demand for resignation started with a TDP leader Ganta Srinivasa Rao. Mr. Rao recently resigned as MLA to intensify protest against the VSP privatisation.
Meanwhile, the Government of India (GoI) announced to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the RINL and POSCO.
