Actor-turned politician and Jana Sena Party founder Pawan Kalyan left for New Delhi on Monday to take up the Vizag Steel Plant issue with the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, in a bid to protect it from privatisation. "Kalyan left for a Delhi visit with PAC chairman Nadendla Manohar," his regional party, which is a BJP ally, said in a statement.

Kalyan is expected to apprise the BJP leadership about the prevailing situation in the state, including the steel plant issue, which is concerned with the self-respect of Telugus.

As many as 32 agitators sacrificed their lives for the steel plant and it has a highly sentimental connection for the Telugu people. Already, thousands of people have started protesting the privatisation plan, including taking massive motorcycle rallies against it in Visakhapatnam.

The alliance of the BJP and the JanaSena aims to capture power in AP and is eager to contest the forthcoming Tirupati by-election, even as they are already contesting the current panchayat elections. However, the steel plant issue will emerge as a another major headache for the saffron party, besides the unimpressive track record of not providinbg special category status, railway zone and other concessions to the majorly agrarian state which lost Hyderabad during the bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

The recent budget had also left the southern state highly disappointed as there was no mention of the Polavaram Project or the allocation of any noteworthy projects.

Earlier, Andhra Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to reconsider the Center's plans of disinvestment. Raising concerns over the move, Jagan claimed that he is ready to work with the Ministry of Steel to “protect the jewel of Andhra Pradesh.” 

Former Minister and Visakhapatnam North  Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLA  Ganta Srinivasa Rao has resigned in protest against the privatisation move, a day after seeking Jagan’s intervention in the issue.

(With IANS inputs)