The opposition parties on Thursday urged the Andhra Pradesh government to revoke the decision of handing over the Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station (SDSTPS) at Nelaturu in SPSR Nellore district to a private player on a 25-year lease, dubbing it a ‘suicidal move’.
Leading a joint protest by the activists of opposition parties, the CPI national secretary K. Narayana alleged that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government was implementing the ‘economic agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)‘.
“The decision, which came close on the heels of handing over of the Gangavaram port to a logistics major which acquired Krishnapatnam port, would go against the interests of the State,” he said while leading a rally from the Nartaki Centre to the Collectorate.
The subsidised power being enjoyed by farmers and other weaker sections in the State would be a thing of the past soon due to the privatisation spree of the government. The AP-Genco and DISCOMs suffered losses due to the ‘faulty policies’ of the State government, he said.
The police, which denied permission for the rally citing COVID-19 protocols, had a tough time in preventing the huge gathering gatecrashing the Collectorate.
TDP Polit Bureau member Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy accused the YSRCP of paying a ‘lip service’ to the cause of Visakhapatnam Steel plant (VSP).
“Handing over of the public sector unit to private players means high power generation cost in the long-run, which will lead to high power tariffs. The power sector reforms imposed on the States by the Centre are anti-people and pro-private players,” said CPI (M) State secretary V. Srinivasa Rao.
