In a swift development, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had denied Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interview to the Telugu Desam Party MPs on Thursday. The MPs who have held protest at the Union Minister for Steel, Chaudhary Birender Singh’s office on Wednesday, sent a request to the PMO on Thursday morning seeking interview. They claimed that the health of MP C M Ramesh, who is on indefinite fast for the ninth day, deteriorating and it required immediate attention of the Prime Minister.
The party office had also sent a communication to Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu about the indefinite fast of Rajya Sabha member Ramesh in Kadapa and raised alarm over his falling health condition.
The group of TDP MPs have met Minister Birender Singh on Wednesday and gave him a representation. On Thursday, they are once again set to meet the Minister and submit a fresh representation from Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.
The State government had claimed the availability of 80 million tons of iron ore for the steel plant in Kadapa and another 200 million tons by 2020. As the steel plant required an assured supply of 150 million tons of iron ore, the Chief Minister claimed surplus availability by the time the plant begins its production.
The Chief Minister had also offered supply of enough water and uninterrupted power supply to the steel plant. He had listed the availability of the national highway for the plant in the vicinity and the possibility of having a link railway line from the Bengaluru line. The Chief Minister also quoted the availability of Krishnapatnam port for the exports and imports for the steel plant.
With this new letter from the Chief Minister, the party MPs are holding protest in Delhi to intensify agitation on the issue. However, it is said that the Union government is unwilling to accept the TDP’s demand at this point of time though it had made up its mind to sanction two steel plants – at Kadapa for AP and at Bayyaram for Telangana. The BJP wants to get the mileage by clearing the two proposals just before the elections, the sources said adding that the BJP is not ready to give any chance to the TDP in AP and TRS in Telangana.
