Stop politicising VSP issue, Steel Minister tells Cong. leader

Union Steel Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy 
| Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K

The Union Steel Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has asked the Congress national leader K.C. Venugopal to ‘‘stop trying to politicise the issue of RINL-Visakhapatnam steel plant for the sake of petty and vote bank politics’‘, on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday (October 3, 2024).

Mr. Venugopal is the Lok Sabha MP from Alappuzha, and the chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee. He is also the general secretary of the Congress.

Mr. Kumaraswamy made the comments in response to Mr. Venugopal’s post that said, “The unfair termination of 4,200 contract workers from Vizag Steel Plant exposes the BJP’s anti-labour outlook once again. There is no doubt that this is being done as a precursor to privatise the plant and hand it over to the PM’s dear corporate cronies.”

“The Congress condemns this and calls for the immediate reinstatement of these workers and urge both the Central and State governments to take swift corrective action. The Congress stands firmly by the workers and is determined to take all necessary measures to undo this unjust decision. The Congress is resolute in its commitment to defending the future of Vizag Steel Plant and we will not allow the NDA government to sell off such a prestigious industrial unit to private players,” the post added.

Reacting to it, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that 4,200 Visakhapatnam steel plant contract workers were reinstated on 29 September, within 48 hours of their termination, as soon as it came to his notice.

“Stop trying to politicise the issue for the sake of petty and vote bank politics. You are rather misinformed as you have raked up this issue despite it being resolved to stoke tensions. The RINL management has also clarified that around 3,700 contract labour passes were cancelled and that they are working to restore the passes in the online system soon. I have also visited the Vizag steel plant after taking over as the minister for steel and heavy industries, after holding discussions with the people’s representatives, officials and workers it has been promised that all their concerns and problems will be looked into after holding discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Your baseless allegations that the NDA government is trying to sell off the Vizag steel plant is far from the truth,” Mr. Kumaraswamy replied in X.

‘PSUs thriving’

He further said, “Numbers don’t lie Mr. Venugopal. Due to better management of PSUs, their share prices have tremendously increased in the last three years. The total market cap of all 81 listed PSUs (62 CPSEs, 12 Public Sector Banks, 3 Public Sector Insurance Companies, and IDBI Bank) has grown by 225 percent. These numbers are a testimony to the fact that under the UPA regime there was a systematic dismantling of the PSUs whereas under the NDA regime they have been thriving under the leadership and vision of PM Narendra Modi .”