Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh’s Human Resource Development Minister Nara Lokesh on Wednesday, July 10, denied that the state’s NDA government has taken a U-turn on the privatisation of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) and assured that it will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the plant regains its glory.
Lokesh, who is the son of chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, took to X to term the article published in an English daily on VSP privatisation as “pure paid fiction carried out at the behest of YSR Congress Party to create unrest and destroy the brand image of Visakhapatnam”.
“No stone will be unturned by the NDA Govt to ensure VSP regains its former glory. We have promised and we will deliver. I request people of AP to not believe these fake news created by Blue Media who wish to see our State destroyed,” wrote Lokesh, who is also the General Secretary of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
He, however, strongly condemned the attack on the daily’s display board at their Visakhapatnam office. He requested party leaders and workers to maintain composure and not let their emotions drive their actions.
“We will take legal action against these blue media organisations that produce biased news items that are inaccurate, unauthentic and not based on true facts,” he said.
Some TDP workers set afire the display board of the English daily in Visakhapatnam. The newspaper said TDP goons attacked its officer after it published an “unbiased” report on VSP privatisation. The newspaper, through a post on its ‘X’ handle, told the TDP, the BJP, and the Jana Sena that intimidating tactics won’t silence it.
Meanwhile, YSR Congress Party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has strongly condemned the attack on the newspaper office by people associated with TDP. “This is yet another attempt to stifle media that doesn’t blindly toe the line of the TDP and always chooses to be unbiased. Democracy in Andhra Pradesh is being continuously violated under the new regime,” he said and demanded that chief minister Chandrababu Naidu take responsibility for this.
(With inputs from agencies)
