BRS came to Vizag to play politics, say AP ministers

VISHAKHAPATNAM: Education Minister Botsa Satyanarayana said on Friday that the Telangana-based Singareni Collieries Company Ltd was only making a show and had no plan to file an expression of interest (EOI) with the RINL.

Talking to Deccan Chronicle, the minister said some BRS leaders came along with the SCCL officials and tried to stir the attention of the trade union leaders and the public by visiting the steel plant premises. “They left for good, never to come back. They probably came for some other purpose,’’ the minister said.

“We are fighting against privatization while the BRS leaders are playing politics. People know the difference,’’ Botsa said, adding the YSRC never backed out from the fight against privatization of the steel plant.

Minister Appala Raju said Telangana leaders came to Vizag as a part of their survival strategy. “We knew it was all a show. We would have fought such moves as we are fighting against privatization of the steel plant,’’ he said.

Minister Pinipe Viswarup said the BRS visit was a special campaign tour and the YSRC government completely ignored them.

Visakhapatnam MP, MVV Satyanarayana, said the Telangana leaders were under a false notion that they have grown taller by changing the name of the party. “They are now trying to impress the people outside Telangana, particularly those in Andhra Pradesh. They have no business to be around in Visakhapatnam,’’ the MP said.

Trade union leader and chairman of Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee, Narsinga Rao, said they were expecting the Singareni Collieries to submit an EOI. “But we later came to know that the central government that has 49 per cent shares in the company objected to the SCCL participation.”