A delegation of BJP leaders led by State president Somu Veerraju met Union Minister of Steel Ramchandra Prasad Singh in New Delhi on Thursday, and appealed to him to give compensation to 8,000 families who had parted with their lands for the establishment of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) nearly three decades ago. Mr. Veerraju told Mr. Ramchandra Prasad Singh that the Congress party at the Centre was responsible for the inordinate delay in paying compensation for the land acquired, and at least now justice should be done to them.
Mr. Veerraju also stressed the need to fulfil the obligation of providing jobs in the VSP to the displaced families.
Rayalaseema projects
In their meeting with Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the State BJP leaders urged him to give due priority to the irrigation projects in Rayalaseema to help the parched region cope up with drought.
Mr. Veerraju also urged Mr. Shekhawat to expedite the implementation of the Relief and Rehabilitation (R&R) package for the thousands of families displaced by the Polavaram irrigation project.
Gazette notification
Mr. Veerraju also took the objections raised by experts on the Central government’s gazette notification on the jurisdictions of the Krishna and Godavari river management boards to the notice of Mr. Shekhawat.
The BJP delegation comprised former State party president Kanna Lakshminarayana, MLCs C.M. Ramesh, T.G. Venkatesh, and G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, State party general secretaries P.V.N. Madhav and S. Vishnuvardhan Reddy and party spokesman G. Bhanu Prakash Reddy.