Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday reiterated his government’s opposition to privatising the Salem steel plant, PTI reported. Palaniswami said all MPs from Tamil Nadu can meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the matter.
“As a first step, your and our MPs can meet the prime minister and the minister in-charge [Dharmendra Pradhan] to press for the withdrawal of the move,” the chief minister told Leader of the Opposition MK Stalin in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. He assured Stalin on his party’s support in both Houses of Parliament.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Congress alliance won 37 out of the 38 seats in Tamil Nadu during the Lok Sabha elections, while the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam managed to win just one seat.
“Let the MPs of AIADMK, DMK and Congress exert pressure on the prime minister and the minister concerned by submitting memorandum to them,” Palaniswami said on Friday. He added that the MPs can highlight the “wrong public perception” privatisation of the plant could lead to.
Employees of the plant, which is a special unit of Steel Authority of India Ltd, observed a daylong strike on Friday to protest against the proposed privatisation. They began their strike from 6 am and staged a demonstration in front of the plant.
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