Maverick evangelist and president of Praja Shanti Party K A Paul is trying to prove that he is very serious in buying the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, if the Centre goes ahead with its privatisation.
On Thursday, Paul filed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition in the Andhra Pradesh high court seeking a direction to the Centre not to sell the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant to any private party for a nominal price.
He claimed that he would mobilise funds required for the purchase of the steel plant in the form of donations through his Global Peace Mission.
He wanted the high court to direct the Central government to permit him to seek donations from his followers across the globe through his peace mission.
The evangelist also asked the high court to constitute a judicial committee comprising retired judges with Telugu background to inquire into the balance sheets of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant to verify its profits and losses.
“The Vizag Steel Plant is actually in the profit mode. But the Centre is hell bent on privatising it only to make money through sale of its assets. Same is the case with other PSUs. The people are strongly resisting the privatisation of a profit-making company,” he asserted.
The Praja Shanti Party president said he had all the information with regard to the outright sale of the steel plant by the Centre.
“The court should take it into consideration and issue interim orders stalling the privatisation process,” he said.
Paul already threatened to launch a fast unto death if the Centre goes ahead with the privatisation of the steel plant.
“If the high court rejects my PIL on the issue, I will take up the fast unto death,” he warned.
Earlier, the evangelist offered to donate Rs 4,000 crore on his personal behalf to prevent the privatisation of the steel plant.
“If given an opportunity, I will clear all the debts of the Telugu states,” he claimed.