Pawan Kalyan goes on hunger strike against Vizag Steel Plant privatization

Showing solidarity with those protesting against Vizag Steel Plant privatization, actor-politician and JanaSena Party (JSP) President, Pawan Kalyan, went on a hunger strike on Sunday. Calling it Sangheebhava Deeksha, the hunger strike started at 10 am and concluded at 5 pm on the same day. 

The Sangheebhava Deeksha – hunger strike against Vizag Steel Plant privatization was marked by an hour-long speech of Pawan Kalyan. Hitting out at the ruling party in the state, he questioned why the 22 Members of the Parliament were not pressing the Central Government to withdraw their decision to privatise the Vizag Steel Plant. Pawan Kalyan further added that the state government should take the onus and not merely blame the Union government. Reiterating what he had said on his previous visit, to take things forward, he demanded the state government to convene an all-party meet to discuss the matter.

It could be noted that Pawan Kalyan last visited Vizag on the same issue – Vizag Steel Plant privatization, on 31 October, 2021. During that visit, he extended his support to the ongoing agitation and led a massive rally from the Visakhapatnam Airport to Kurmannapalem.

Earlier, in February 2021, Pawan Kalyan had travelled to the national capital, Delhi, to discuss the VSP privatisation issue with the Central Government. He expressed the sentiments of the workers of Vizag Steel Plant, and also proposed other remedies to keep the VSP as a public government entity.

The JanaSena Party (JSP) President had also visited Visakhapatnam in 2019. During that visit, he had participated in a long march organized against the sand policy in Andhra Pradesh. The long march was held from the Telugu Talli statue at Maddilapalem, and passed through Rama Talkies and Asilmetta before concluding at the Mahatma Gandhi statue located opposite the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) office.