By Mehboob Ali
Hyderabad: Members of various left parties held a joint protest in front of Singareni Bhavan at Lakdi Ka Pul against the auction of coal blocks by the Central government on Friday, July 5. The protesters demanded the allocation of the coal blocks to the state-run Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) and for the cancellation of the auction.
Members of CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) and other left parties slammed the central government’s decision to auction the country’s resources to a handful of corporates. The protesters urged the state government to extend support to their struggle. They have sworn to fight the auction with bandhs and other stringent means of protest if necessary.
Speaking Siasat.com S Veeraiah, CPI(M) state secretariat member, condemned the Centre’s move and asked chief minister A Revanth Reddy to lead an all-party delegation to Delhi demanding to call off the auction process.
“Singareni is the heart of Telangana, simply speaking. Without Singareni, we can’t think of Telangana. Unfortunately, the central government has put the coal blocks adjacent to Singareni for auction. That is not proper. Coal blocks in Telangana have to be allotted straight away to Singareni. They should not be auctioned. The state government is already trying to impress the Central government,” said S Veeraiah.
The protestor further accused the state government of being hands in glove with the Centre in selling away the coal block. “When central minister Kishan Reddy started this auction programme in Hyderabad, the state’s deputy chief minister, Bhatti Vikramarka, was also present in that meeting. That is surprising. He should have protested,” alleged Veeraiah.
Chief minister Revanth in a recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged him to hand over the coal block to SSCL rather than auctioning it to a private party. “The Centre is not answering, and the auction programme is going on. That’s why the state government has to increase the pressure on the central government. If necessary, all-party delegations should go. The chief minister can lead the delegation to negotiate with the Central government. Because it’s our right,” Veeraiah.
The Union minister of Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy launched the 10th tranche of coal blocks auction at Hyderabad on June 21. The Union minister assured that there would be no danger to Singareni or its workers.
Telangana deputy chief minister Bhatti Mallu Vikramarka, who was present at the meeting, requested the Centre not to auction coal blocks in Telangana and allot them instead to the SCCL.
